The Nave Andromeda oil tanker is docked next to the Queen Elizabeth II Cruise Terminal in Southampton, England, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. The U.K. military seized control of the oil tanker that dropped anchor in the English Channel after reporting it had seven stowaways on board who had become violent. (Andrew Matthews/PA Wire via AP)
The Nave Andromeda oil tanker is docked next to the Queen Elizabeth II Cruise Terminal in Southampton, England, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. The U.K. military seized control of the oil tanker that dropped anchor in the English Channel after reporting it had seven stowaways on board who had become violent. (Andrew Matthews/PA Wire via AP)
The Nave Andromeda oil tanker is docked next to the Queen Elizabeth II Cruise Terminal in Southampton, England, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. The U.K. military seized control of the oil tanker that dropped anchor in the English Channel after reporting it had seven stowaways on board who had become violent. (Andrew Matthews/PA Wire via AP)
The Nave Andromeda oil tanker is seen off the coast of the Isle of Wight, England Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. The U.K. military seized control of the oil tanker that dropped anchor in the English Channel after reporting it had seven stowaways on board who had become violent. Police investigations will now continue, and initial reports confirmed the tanker's crew was safe and well. (Steve Parsons/PA via AP)
The Nave Andromeda oil tanker, right, is seen off the coast of the Isle of Wight, England Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. The U.K. military seized control of the oil tanker that dropped anchor in the English Channel after reporting it had seven stowaways on board who had become violent. Police investigations will now continue, and initial reports confirmed the tanker's crew was safe and well. (Steve Parsons/PA via AP)
A a tanker at sea, on Sunday Oct. 25, 2020. British police and coast guard units have responded to an incident on an oil tanker in the English Channel after the crew reported they had stowaways onboard who had become verbally abusive. The incident began about 10 a.m. on the Libyan-registered tanker Nave Andromeda and was continuing Sunday night. (Steve Parsons/PA via AP)
In this image taken from SKY video, shows a tanker at sea, as filmed from land on Sunday Oct. 25, 2020. British police are investigating an undisclosed incident aboard an oil tanker in the English Channel. The incident reportedly took place aboard the Libyan-registered oil tanker Nave Andromeda south of Sandown on Isle of Wight, according to Isle of Wight Radio. (SKY News via AP)
In this image taken from SKY video, shows a tanker at sea, as filmed from land on Sunday Oct. 25, 2020. British police are investigating an undisclosed incident aboard an oil tanker in the English Channel. The incident reportedly took place aboard the Libyan-registered oil tanker Nave Andromeda south of Sandown on Isle of Wight, according to Isle of Wight Radio. (SKY News via AP)
LONDON (AP) — All crew members of an oil tanker that was stormed by British naval special forces after a group of stowaways threatened violence are “safe and well,” the ship‘s operator confirmed Monday.
Seven people were detained in the raid, which unfolded in the English Channel after darkness fell on Sunday. Special Boat Service commandos were lowered by rope from helicopters onto the Nave Andromeda, whose crew had locked themselves in a secure part of the ship known as the citadel. Within minutes, the stowaways — believed to be from Nigeria — were in custody.
The Special Boat Service is the elite maritime counter-terrorism unit of the Royal Navy.
Navios Tanker Management, which operates the Liberian-registered vessel, said the ship’s master became “concerned for the safety of the crew due to the increasingly hostile behavior of the stowaways.” It said in a statement that all 22 crew members were “safe and well.”
Maritime tracking websites showed the ship reached port in Southampton, on England’s south coast, early Monday.
The ship had left Lagos, Nigeria, on Oct. 6 and had been due to dock in Southampton on Sunday morning. The raid followed a 10-hour standoff as the tanker circled an area a few miles southeast of the Isle of Wight, south of Southampton.
“I think this has got all the hallmarks of a situation where a number of stowaways are seeking political asylum, presumably in the U.K.," said Bob Sanguinetti, chief executive of the U.K. Chamber of Shipping. “At some stage they got aggressive.”
“Clearly no one knew at the time how aggressive they were, whether they were armed or not, what their motives were, because there will have been confusion at that stage,” he said.
The coast guard scrambled helicopters to the scene, and authorities imposed a three-mile exclusion zone around the vessel. Suspecting a hijacking, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel authorized military action, the U.K. government said.
“I commend the hard work of the armed forces and police to protect lives and secure the ship,″ Wallace said. “In dark skies and worsening weather, we should all be grateful for our brave personnel.″
15 Stocks that Insiders Love
An insider trade occurs when a corporate executive (such as a CEO, CFO or COO) that has non-public information about a company buys or sells shares of that company's stock. Company insiders are required by law to regularly report their stock purchases and sales to the SEC.
Tracking a company's insider trades is a metric that can be used to identify the direction that the company's executives believes that the company is headed. If a number of insiders purchase more shares of their company, they may believe that the company will have strong future earnings and that the share price will increase in the near future.
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This slideshow lists the 15 companies that have had the highest levels of insider buying within the last 180 days.
View the "15 Stocks that Insiders Love".
