French ‘refused to take in seven stowaways who hijacked tanker’

FRANCE refused to take seven stowaways from an oil tanker that was later hijacked off the Isle of Wight, it was claimed last night.

The Nave Andromeda, which was stormed by special forces on Sunday, is said to have asked French port authorities if they could take the men five days earlier. The claim was made by the shipping journal Lloyd’s List.

Richard Meade, its editor, said: ‘ The stowaways were discovered at some point during the voyage and the standard protocol is to inform the nearest coastal state, which it appears was France, but they refused to accept them.

‘The Liberian Registry has said the reason it was circling around Saint Nazaire on October 20 and 21 was because they were in negotiations with the French authorities but the French refused to allow them to dock. It is a grey area of whether the coastal state has a legal obligation to accept them, but you could argue there is a moral obligation.

‘We have seen this kind of thing become a huge problem with accepting migrant boats in the Mediterranean.’

A source told the Mail the ship had contacted the French authorities.

The disclosure threatens to damage Anglo-French tensions amid record numbers of refugees and migrants reaching Britain by boat across the Channel. The French authorities have faced accusations of failing to do enough to stop them. Following Sunday’s Special Boat Service operation seven Nigerian nationals were arrested on suspicion of seizing or exercising control of a ship by threats or force.

The detentions were made under the hijacking section of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990.

Officers from Hampshire Police were given more time by magistrates to question the suspects yesterday.

The Nave Andromeda left Nigeria on October 6 and had been due in Southampton early Sunday morning.

Tracking data from the website MarineTraffic shows it zig-zagging and going in circles as it sailed near Saint Nazaire. It eventually continued on to Britain, with the ship’s captain issuing a mayday signal off the Isle of Wight at 9am on Sunday.

A ten-hour stand-off ensued after the stowaways became violent. The crew were yesterday said to still be on board the vessel in dock at Southampton.