page_title: Radio North Sea International
section_title: Attempted hijacking
hierarchical_section_title: Radio North Sea International / Attempted hijacking
caption_attribution_description: English: Huskey tug Nederlands: De Husky uit Zwijndrecht, Nederland
context_page_description: Radio North Sea International was a European offshore radio station run by the Swiss firm Mebo Telecommunications, jointly owned by Swiss engineer Edwin Bollier and his business partner, Erwin Meister. RNI broadcast for less than five years in the early 1970s and, courting both disaster and success, made a modest financial profit.
context_section_description: On 12 August 1970, Kees Manders, a nightclub owner involved with Radio Veronica, became commercial director of RNI. But RNI's managing director, Larry Tremaine, said nothing had been agreed. Bollier and Meister had invited Manders to start a Dutch service from the Mebo II, and offered him a directorship in RNI, but withdrew when Manders leaked the story.
  A few weeks later, on Saturday, 29 August 1970, a salvage tug named Husky approached Mebo II at about 13:30. Accompanying the tug was a launch, the Viking, aboard which were Kees Manders with a woman and a child. In the studio, DJ Andy Archer interrupted his programme with appeals to listeners to tell RNI's offices of what appeared a threatening situation:
  Seven minutes now away from two o'clock, and we have to apologise to you for interrupting our normal programme schedule with these urgent messages, but as you can probably appreciate, something rather drastic has happened. Or they're trying to make something happen which we won't stand for. We're refusing to allow anybody this radio ship, and if you've just joined us, perhaps you'd like to be put in the picture, that a tug has come alongside, along with a person by the name of Kees Manders, who apparently is a well known figure in Holland, and he is trying to take the ship away.  Our Captain has only allowed him on board, and nobody else, and that will remain that way. We're not going to let anybody else on board the ship, only Mr Manders, to hear what he's got to say, but Radio North Sea International will stay broadcasting until we receive a definite order from our Head office in Zurich. So if anybody is listening in Zurich, or in London, or in our office in The Hague, in Scheveningen, perhaps they would like to do something, perhaps send a boat out, or perhaps try to make contact with us on the short-wave. . . Well, the situation is. . . none of us are sure what's happening at the moment but this certainly isn't an authorized tug. . . we have no tugs. . . the Mebo is in no need of a tug because we have perfectly good engines. . . The Captain allowed one of the men on board, but he refused to let any more on board, which is his prerogative. . . and this is the way it's going to stay until we receive details or instructions from our head office. So, once more we'd like to make a call to our head office in Zurich, or if anyone is listening in our London office, on in The Hague, perhaps you could try and get a message out to us on the short-wave link.
  Spangles Muldoon reported:
  It seems they're gonna spray water onto the antenna, which apart from tripping out our transmitter, would give whoever did it a very lethal shock. . .. So by all means, spray the aerial with water, if it makes you feel any better.
  Andy Archer:
  . . . and the banging you can hear in the background is that we are taking all security precautions, and locking up the hatches to save anybody from coming down into the studio itself. So once more we must tell you that there's a raid taking place at the moment. . . an unauthorised raid, and we're doing our best to stop everybody coming on board, so all we ask for our friends on the shore. . . to send out help to us. . .
  Manders' demands were refused. He returned to the Viking, threatening to cut the anchor chain and tow the Mebo II to port. Crewmen on the Husky made to use a water cannon on the radio mast, but decided against, presumably having heard they risked electrocution. While Archer and Muldoon continued to broadcast, others armed themselves with knives and petrol bombs to repel boarders. Switchboards in London, The Hague, and Zurich received calls from listeners. Erwin Meister arrived on a launch, followed by the Eurotrip tender and other craft. Husky and Viking left, and were never seen again. Later that day van Ness, a frigate of the Royal Dutch Navy stood by. As the day ended, Larry Tremaine went on air with this statement:
  Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry for the inconvenience today that you have had, but unfortunately we have had problems out here. And, I'm glad the disk jockeys have done
caption: Husky at Scheveningen
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