Four men are due to appear in court charged with affray following an incident on board a cargo ship in the Thames Estuary.

Samuel Jolumi, 26, Ishola Sunday, 27, Toheeb Popoola, 26, and Joberto McGee, 20, all of no fixed address, were detained after police boarded the ship on Friday amid reports of stowaways threatening crew.

The men are all due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court this morning.

An Essex Police spokesman confirmed the force was called at about 9.15am on Friday to a call relating to the safety of the crew on board the Grande Tema, a 71,000-tonne ship which set off from Lagos, Nigeria, on December 10.

It arrived at the Port of Tilbury in Essex just after 4.20am on Saturday, according to MarineTraffic.com.

The ship's operator, Grimaldi Lines, said there were no reports of injuries.