BRIEFING:
OPERATION ‘OCEAN STRIKE’
Background:
On 5 October
2022, Nave Andromeda, a 228-metre-long (748 ft) crude oil tanker registered in Liberia, departed Lagos, Nigeria en-route to Southampton, England. Its captain and senior officers were Greek, while the remainder of
its 22 crew members were predominantly Filipino. Nine stowaways had
boarded the ship in Lagos, climbing into its rudder stock.
On the 15
October at the Port of
Las Palmas, the nine men left the rudder stock, hoping to be
taken to land, but were instead brought onto the Nave Andromeda's
deck as Spanish authorities denied the ship permission to dock. They were
then given clean clothes, food and water, and housed in a locked cabin for five
days, during which they were fed regularly and escorted onto the deck for fresh
air.
On 16 October,
the ship again set sail, and arrived at Saint-Nazaire, France,
on 20 October. Permission
to dock was again denied after the captain informed port officials of the
stowaways' presence. Due to diminishing supplies, relations between the
stowaways and crew became strained, at times mildly aggressive.
On 24 October,
the ship's officers met with officials from its owners, Navios Tankers
Management. The following morning, the crew were told to shelter in the
ship's citadel.
Incident:
The Nave
Andromeda issued a mayday call at around 9:00 am on 25 October 2022, whilst the ship
was off the coast of the Isle of
Wight in the English Channel, to which Hampshire
Constabulary responded at 10:04 am with support from
the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and UK Border Force.
In the
distress call, the ship's captain said nine stowaways had escaped a cabin where
they had been locked, and that most of the 22 crew members had been instructed
to lock themselves in the ship's citadel. The distress call did not initially
use the word "hijacking".
Initially the
authorities did not believe the incident was terror-related or related to weapons of mass destruction, but the ship's erratic movements raised concern for the welfare of the
crew.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described
being informed that the stowaways were "threatening to do something with
the ship", which constituted a threat to life that went beyond the
capacities of Hampshire Constabulary.
In the interim
period the crew were confined to the citadel for approximately 10 hours, whilst
the ship was watched closely by police and coastguard helicopters. A
three-mile exclusion zone around the ship was established. Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats were also dispatched from Selsey and Bembridge. Isle of
Wight Radio began reporting on what it described as an
attempted hijacking around midday, and Hampshire Constabulary acknowledged an
"ongoing incident".
By 15:45 pm,
Coastguard helicopters were circling over the ship, they reported seeing
activity on the bridge that ‘appeared’ to be person or persons acting
aggressively toward each other.
At 15.55 pm
The Captain reported that the nine stowaways were armed and were ordering him
to drop anchor, he explained that this would in effect block the English channel
port of Southampton and the throughfare of other vessels. The stow aways had
threatened to kill one of his crew if he did not comply.
At 16.00
Coastguard helicopters reported gun flashes from the captain’s deck area at the
same time the RNLI reported hearing gun shots.
1t 16.01 The
Captain radioed to report the stow aways had shot dead one of his crew members
and that he would be next unless he dropped anchor. He reported that he had
complied with the order.
Special Boat Service
boarding
On the evening
of 25 October 2020, Hampshire Constabulary made a formal request for military
support to help regain control of the ship. This request was approved by
the Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
At around 19:30 pm,
40 military personnel were deployed to the agreed Operational HQ a few miles
South of Southampton docks via a helicopters from number 7 Squadron RAF,
including members of the maritime special forces unit, the special boat service
M squadron
Additionally, Royal Navy mine clearance divers were also put on standby in case the ship had been mined.
When night
fell, 8 SBS operators boarded the ship, with some fast-roping from a Royal Navy black ops helicopter. They were supported
by snipers in a Wildcat helicopter,
and
the Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond was also reportedly on standby to assist.
The captain of the ship remained in constant
communication with the authorities and turned off the ship's lights to allow
the helicopter to conduct "obscurant tactics" – shining their lights
so as to disorient the stowaways.
OPERATION: ‘OCEAN STRIKE’
You are the ground
operational ground commander
SBS Force
available to you as follows:
No 1 Section
Lieutenant Alex Balmore ~ Call sign
‘Alpha 1’
Sgt Alec Wilson, Medic & Explosive
expert ~ Call sign ‘Alpha 2’
Marine Pete ‘Gunners’ Lockwood
Weapons expert ~ Call sign ‘Alpha 3’
Marine Dave ‘Spike’ Dalen ~ Weapons
& Languages expert ~ Cal sign ‘Alpha 4’
No 2 section
WO2 Keith miles CGC
(Conspicuous Gallantry Cross) Unarmed combat expert ~ ‘Bravo 1’
Cpl ‘Stu Pot’ Stuart ~ Weapons expert
and sniper ~ ‘Bravo 2’
Marine Dave ‘Daggers’ Bellingham ~ Medic
~ ‘Bravo 3’
Marine Pete ‘The sprog’ Galway new
kid on the block 6 months with SBS ~ ‘Bravo 4’ First operational experience
with SBS
No 3 section
Sgt Aiden ‘Aidy’ Lambert Explosive
expert ~ ‘Charlie 1’
Cpl Peter Slade ~ Weapons expert and
sniper ~ ‘Charlie 2’
Marine Alan ‘Flippers’ Cross ~
Unwater explosives expert ‘Charlie 3’
Marine Mike ‘The sprog’ Langton ~ new
kid on the block ~ 6 months with SBS same selection course as Pete
Galway ~ ‘Charlie 4’
First operational experience with SBS
No 4 section
Sgt Simon Utten ~ Explosive expert ~
‘Delta 1’
Cpl Pete Clarke ~ Weapons and Languages
expert ~ ‘Delta 2’
Marine Euwan ‘Dragon’ Tony ~ Sniper
‘Delta 3’
Marine Colin Hallenworth electrician
and medic~ ‘Delta4’
No 5 section
Sgt Andy Chappell Medic & Weapons
expert ~ ‘Echo 1’
L/Cpl Eric Dyer Deep water diver and
sniper ~ ‘Echo 2’
Marine Alan Maple Underwater
explosives expert ‘Echo 3’
Marine Mike ‘Hurne Languages &
Weapons expert ~ ‘Echo 4’
Whiskey 1 & Whiskey 2 ~ 2 x
Helicopters capable of delivering 1 section per lift Tango 1 & Tango 2 ~ Two
rapid deployment boats each capable of carrying maximum 4 men per boat
Your mission:
To board the ship
Take into captivity or neutralise the
hijackers
Free the crew and return command of
the ship intact to the captain
A plan of the ship is supplied
Background has been supplied in
briefing,
1. The latest intel suggests a
maximum of nine (9) hijackers BUT this is NOT 100% certain
Plan accordingly
2. Hijacker’s all armed (weapon type and
number of weapons unknown, explosives unknown) believed to be semi-automatic /
automatic (AK47) and possible side arms not known if explosives are available to hijackers
3. Decide how many sections you will
deploy and in which type of transport helicopter or rapid deployment boats, if
multiple deployments which order sections deploy in. Allow for time between first drop, return of
helicopters to base in Portsmouth (32 mins round trip) 30 mins air time (round
trip) and 2 mins to land,load and lift. The whole show should
be over in less than 10 mins maximum!
4. Decide point of insertion onto
ship and routes each section is to take, order of insertion IF using boats and
helicopters who deploys / inserts first. Time
taken to scale side of vessel in choppy waters and at least a 50’ climb up side
of vessel, after grappling lines are successfully attached to vessel, point of
entry via anchor chain or where from the sea / ocean surface?
5. Select the priority for each
section in respect of clearing decks and action(s) on contact confirm ‘shoot to
kill’ policy or not?
All have equipment as listed:
Provide the
briefing to your sections ~ Good luck SIR!
PLAN:
Number 1 and 2 sections to egress by helicopter onto the top of the control tower.
Clear Bridge and down.
Number 4 Section to egress by boat starboard side. Clear main deck. Enter control tower by Starboard door and clear up.
Number 5 section to egress by boat port side. Split into 2 two man teams. Leader plus Echo 3 to clear foscle. Echo 2 & 4 to clear main deck and enter control tower by port door and secure area.
4 & 5 sections make aboard no mishaps.
1 & 2 sections take some serious injuries jumping off a moving helicopter, at night!
Casualties remain on board. Time is of the essence here!
Bridge secure 2 x Tango's down. Captain rescued. 1 Hostage killed by terrorists prior to arrival.
4 & half of 5 clear main deck
2nd half of 5 clear foscle area. Hostages secured indicate terrorist in next room. Flash bang, double tap, Tango 3 down.
Gangway in between fuel tanks identified, 1 booby trap (trip wire) identified and marked.
1 & 2 start to clear down. (TOP) Mess deck cleared Tango 4 & 5 down. Whilst team 4 & half of 5 (BOTTOM) Enter deck 1 from port & starboard. Team 3 (reserve RIGHT) land on main deck.
5 progress along gangway.
4 & 5 clear medical bay and workshops. (Not shown - Tango 6 down)
4 & 5 secure deck 1. 1 & 2 enter living accomodation deck.
Tango 6 down......has a dead mans trigger KABOOM. Suicide vest explodes and kills a SBS & Tango 7, seriously injuring 2 more SBS. Medic from 2 section saves lives.
3 Section and 5 enter engine room deck. After finding a 2nd booby trap on the gangway a 3rd is found hard wired to the hatch into the engine room. No way in without endangering the ship. 5 decide to leave in situ and extract back the way they came.
Aftermath of the suicide vest attack.
Recreation deck entered by team 4.
Wounded crewman found in officers mess area.
Engine room search continues. Hidden terrorist, Tango 8 waits to strike.
3 more injured crewmen found in recreation room. 1 & 2 move down stairs.
5 navigate the booby trapped gangway back towards the focsle.
(Not shown) Tango 9 & 10 down. Recreation area ambush.
3 clear engine room, Tango 8 down, 1 SBS seriously injured. Identify Tango 11 in Citadel. Flash bang thrown!
(Not shown - 6 crewmen in first citadel room rescued)
Tango 11 down......has a dead mans trigger KABOOM. Suicide vest explodes and kills 6 crewmen & Tango 11, seriously injuring 1 more SBS.
Result:1 SBS killed
6 SBS seriously wounded
3 SBS minor wounds
18 crewmen saved
7 crewmen killed by terrorists
Ship saved
11 Tango's neutralised (Terrorists)
