LONDON: British police on Sunday said they had been called by a vessel off England’s south coast amid reports of a security incident involving stowaways on an oil tanker.

“We are aware and dealing with an ongoing incident on board a vessel which is situated south of the Isle of Wight,” a spokesman for Hampshire police told AFP.

The incident is reported to be taking place on the Liberian-registered Nave Andromeda crude oil tanker, according to Isle of Wight Radio, the local station.

British media, including Sky News, reported that around seven stowaways had attempted to take over the ship, although lawyers Tatham and Co, who represent the vessel’s owners, told the BBC that it was “100 percent not a hijacking”.