It has been quite the week!!!! Late Monday night, I was woken to respond to a fire on the barge at the end of our pier. Rogue thieves have been using the barge to stage their raids on the port and our ship and pier. The fire eventually went out on its own but it was a huge concern since the barge is just 20 feet from the ship.Tuesday morning I was contacted by UNMIL that a worker had collapsed at the top of a well. UNMIL had attempted to lower a rescue person but he became overcome by some sort of gas. Our ship was the only source of a breathing apparatus in Liberia. When we got there it became obvious that we were now working to recover a body and not a rescue.
It became obvious that the well's 3 ft diameter would not allow us to have the rescuer to wear the air pack. So we were forced to lower the air tank directly above the rescue person and ensure that we didn't pull the mask or hose from him. What made the situation a little more complicated was that a fire team arrived with an explosive meter and we found that the well was full of methane. This meant that if we caused a spark we could have launched the rescue guy out of the well like the guy in a circus canon. In the end the recovery process was successful, the body was recovered and returned to his family and a critical public well was not contaminated by a dead body.
On Thursday we saw 5 swimmers return top the barge in the afternoon. My Ghurka's and I used our wrist rocket slingshots and .38 ball bearings to keep their heads down but we could not dislodge them, eventually they swam away.
On Friday afternoon, I was notified by the ships security team that once again we had 5 individuals climbing aboard the barge. We again yelled at the rogues that they were trespassing and used slingshots to harass them. The rogues took cover under the barges structure and refused to leave. I informed the Captain of the Anastasis, Captain Jurryan Shutte, of the situation and requested permission to plan an operation utilizing our ship’s small boat and the local Ghanaian detachment to arrest the rogues. The Captain concerned with the ongoing safety of the ship and crew agreed with the need to resolve this issue and approved the operation.
Because the rogues had been seen with either a meat cleaver or machete there was concern for the safety of the boat crew, a request was made to the Ghanaian detachment for armed soldiers to assist in the apprehension of the rogues. My team consisted of myself, my lead Ghurka, and a Coxswain along with a Ghanaian soldier; we were lowered in the ship’s small boat. As the small boat approached the barge 3 individual jumped from the barge into the water. I notified the individuals that they were trespassing and that they needed to swim ashore to be placed in custody of the Ghanaian officers. At first the rogues were given life preservers to insure they reached shore safely. The rogues soon tired and were brought into the ship’s boat, they were then handed over to Ghanaian detachment. The 3 rogues informed us that there were 2 more rogues onboard the ship. Additional Ghanaian soldiers with weapons covered the boat crew during the apprehension from the dock.
My team and the Ghanaian soldier boarded the barge and began to search the forward part of the ship and tanks. As we began to search aft, we found a storage compartment aft which contained some sort of air tanks and fire extinguishers. We requested 2 additional Ghanaian soldiers to assist in the search of this confined space. We searched for 30 minutes and did not find the remaining 2 rogues. We removed all of the tanks in the hold and recovered a broken lock, meat cleaver, and small hammer as evidence of their efforts in breaking into the barge and stripping the copper wire from it. We also found cable junction boxes that had been cut out and removed. We also found evidence where they had used the fire earlier in the week to burn through thick cable and its insulation.
As we returned to the M/V Anastasis and recovered the small boat, we were informed by the security staff that 2 individuals had swam from the barge. We reassembled the team and interdicted the 2 rogues at the railroad bridge. We escorted them to the Nepalese base where Ghanaian soldiers were waiting to place them in custody. The 2 individuals were claiming to not be rogues but workers in the port. As we returned the 2 rogues to the Ghanaian Battalion HQ, the 3 previously caught rogues identified the last 2 as their compatriots; removing any validity to the last 2 rogue’s claims of innocence. 
The 5 individuals refused to comply with multiple requests for their names and contact information. I tried to convince the 5 rogues that it was in their best interest to comply with the UNMIL and LSP (Liberian Seaport Police) officers. They refused to do so and continued to give false information to the officers, the Nigerian officer questioning started to beat one of the suspects who was mocking him. I had to intervene on their behalf to stop the beating . We handed the 5 suspects over to the LSP with 2 of Mercy Ship’s handcuffs used to restrain 4 of the individuals.
Saturday morning the LSP officers returned with one of the suspect to our ship. The suspect had damaged the handcuffs by trying to pick the lock. We told the LSP that we would not be able to cut off the handcuff till Monday morning. The LSP officer in charge requested that we provide food for the 5 suspects because they would have to hold them till Monday morning. On Sunday the officers came to the ship and they informed me that the rocket scientist that broke the handcuffs was banging it against the wall and forced it to tighten around his wrist. As I drove to the holding cell to assist I saw the officers holding down the suspect as they used a machete and a rock to break open the handcuff. I immediately turned my vehicle around and waited for 15 minutes before returning to make sure that I didn't witness an amputation. In the end the skilled locksmith with the rock and machete successfully removed the handcuffs. I have to admit it felt cool to play the "Coastie" again. It wasn't until I had to climb the 8ft up to the top of the barge did I realize how old and "big" I am right now. In the end we got the bad guys in jail and secured the port area.
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