Grande Tema incident

On 21 December 2018 there was an incident aboard the container ship Grande Tema in the Thames Estuary. Four stowaways, who had travelled aboard the vessel from Lagos, Nigeria, demanded to be let off near the British shore. The crew of the Grimaldi Group ship refused and, when the stowaways made threats, barricaded themselves in the bridge. The British authorities were alerted and, following failed negotiations, special forces operatives from the Special Boat Service landed on the vessel and detained the stowaways. The men were later found guilty of affray and making threats to kill and received prison sentences.

Grande Tema pictured in 2020

Incident and resolution

The Grande Tema is a Grimaldi Group 71,000-tonne (70,000-long-ton) ConRo ship.[1] She left Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, Nigeria, on 10 December 2018, bound for the Port of Tilbury in the United Kingdom.[2][3] Around 16 December, four male stowaways were discovered by the ship's captain Antonio Raggi in the lower deck ramp area. When discovered, two of the men were hanging over rails close to the ship's propellers.[1] The crew gave the stowaways food, water and clothing, and secured them into a room.[4]

On 21 December, when the Grande Tema was off Ramsgate in Kent, the stowaways broke free from the room, and armed themselves with metal poles.[5] With the vessel some 7 miles (11 km) off Ramsgate, they demanded that the vessel be moved closer to the British coast so that they could swim ashore.[6] Raggi refused their request, and the stowaways made threats to the crew. The 27-man crew barricaded themselves into the bridge and alerted the British authorities.[5][4][3] The stowaways attacked the windows, threw faeces and urine, and made cut-throat gestures in an attempt to gain access to the bridge. One of the men intentionally cut himself.[7][5][6] Raggi feared that the stowaways might have links to the Boko Haram terrorist group and may have hidden weapons on board the vessel.[5] The British authorities instructed Raggi to pilot the ship in circles in the Thames Estuary until the situation could be resolved.

Police negotiators made contact with the stowaways.[4][6] During the negotiations, the stowaways claimed that there had originally been a fifth member of their group, who had fallen overboard.[4]

Traffic in the nearby English Channel was disrupted as a result of the incident.[1]

Progress could not be made and, as the stand-off reached 14 hours and with the vessel near Margate, a military intervention was decided.[5][3] A sabre squadron of Special Boat Service operatives fast-roped onto the vessel from Royal Navy helicopters at around 23:00 and secured it within 25 minutes, with no injuries.[8][9][10] The British had asked Raggi to turn off his ship's lights at the start of the operation to hinder the stowaways.[2][3] The ship was sailed to Tilbury, arriving at 04:20, where the four stowaways were arrested by Essex Police on immigration charges.[3]

Aftermath

The four stowaways, Samuel Jolumi, 27, Ishola Sunday, 28, Toheeb Popoola, 27, and Joberto McGee, 21, originating from Nigeria and Liberia, were tried at the Old Bailey in London from September 2019.[1][7][5] All four were charged with affray and attempting to hijack a vessel. In addition, McGee, described as the ringleader, was charged with two counts of making a threat to kill, and Popoola was charged with one count of that offence.[5] In mitigation, McGee claimed he had to flee West Africa to avoid being forced to join a gang, while the others cited desperation and impulsivity.[7] The presiding judge praised the "fortitude and good sense" of Italian captain Antonio Raggi during the incident.[7]

In November, all four men were cleared of the hijack charges but found guilty of the remainder.[7] The four were sentenced on 3 January 2020, with McGee receiving 32 months' imprisonment, Popoola 31 months and the other two men 16 months. The men faced a Home Office investigation into their immigration status.[5][7]

See also
  • Nave Andromeda incident, a similar occurrence aboard a tanker near the Isle of Wight in 2020. Also resolved by intervention from the Special Boat Service.

References
  1. "The stowaways who ran amok on a container vessel in 2018". Express and Star. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. "Would Be Hijackers of RoRo Container Ship in Thames Estuary Not Technically Pirates". Handy Shipping Guide. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  3. Davies, Caroline; Badshah, Nadeem; Busby, Mattha (22 December 2018). "Margate: special forces rescue 'stowaway-held ship'". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  4. "Thames Estuary cargo ship stowaways 'threw urine and faeces'". BBC News. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  5. "'Faeces-throwing' Thames Estuary cargo ship stowaways guilty". BBC News. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  6. Morgan, Joe; McConnell, Ed (5 January 2020). "Ship stowaways threatened sailors with iron bars as part of plan to swim to UK". Daily Record. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. "Stowaways who caused havoc on container ship in Thames Estuary jailed". BBC News. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. Simpson, John; Willan, Philip; Fisher, Lucy (22 December 2018). "Stowaway gang held on board cargo ship Grande Tema in Thames Estuary". The Times. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  9. "SBS Commandos Storm Hijacked Cargo Ship". Forces Network. British Forces Broadcasting Service. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  10. "Thames Estuary cargo ship: Four men charged with affray after crew 'threatened'". Sky News. 23 December 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
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