The Special Boat Service commando raid on the tanker was authorized by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel after a tense 10-hour stand-off. The Ministry of Defence called the incident a "suspected hijacking" and said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel authorised the operation in response to a police request. The ship's master had some control and was able to feed information on the seven hijackers back to command teams on shore. The raid on the tanker was authorised by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel after a tense 10-hour stand-off. The SBS is the elite maritime counter-terrorism unit of the Royal Navy, with most of its personnel Royal Marine Commandos.

Source: The Standard October 26, 2020 07:52 UTC