The rebels had boarded the ship in La Guaira (Venezuela) and in Willemstad (Curaçao), disguised as passengers, bringing aboard suitcases that had secret compartments to hide their weapons. In the early hours of 22 January, rebels, along with Henrique Galvao, seized the ship and shut down all communication. One officer (3rd Pilot Nascimento Costa) was killed and several others wounded in the process of taking control of the ship. The rebels forced Captain Mário Simões Maia and his crew to divert the ship eastwards. The next day they called at Saint Lucia, then a British possession, to drop off Costa's body and some injured crewmen in a launch; but, speaking only Portuguese, the sailors were unable to successfully communicate what had happened to their ship until after it had left.