Australian Troops Board Refugee Ship

CHRISTMAS ISLAND, Australia — Elite military personnel boarded a Norwegian cargo ship carrying 438 refugees today after its captain defied orders banning it from entering Australian waters, Prime Minister John Howard said.

The Special Air Services troops were ferried on three boats to the ship, which rescued the refugees from a sinking Indonesian ferry., harbor master Don O’Donnell said. The ferrying boats returned to Christmas Island after dropping off the troops. No refugees were transferred back to the island, he said.

Howard said the troops had secured the ship. There were no reports of any violence. Refugees have threatened to jump overboard or riot if they were turned away.

Howard said the ship approached Christmas Island despite warnings to the captain and to the Norwegian foreign minister.

“The government was left with no alternative,” he said.

Howard said the ship’s captain decided to steer toward Christmas Island after refugees threatened to jump overboard if they did not receive medical attention.

Earlier, the ship’s captain had issued an urgent request for medical assistance for his unwanted human cargo, who were picked up from the sinking vessel Monday.

O’Donnell said the cargo ship was about four miles from the island.

“It has broken Australian territorial boundaries and is holding its position four miles offshore,” O’Donnell said.

Squeezed onto the ship under a harsh tropical sun off the coast of this remote island, many of the refugees--mostly Afghans--were refusing to eat as Australia denied them entry for a third day.

The cargo ship’s captain, Arne Rinnan, said there were at least six very sick people aboard. There were dozens of children and a number of pregnant women among the refugees.

It was not immediately clear how the Afghans made it to Indonesia.

On Tuesday, Indonesia appeared to offer a way out of the crisis, saying it would accept the boat and its human cargo. But it later backed away from the offer.