Raritan ship taken as hostage, new Gibraltar military base and fire spreading south

A Raritanian merchant ship has been illegally seized by pirates while traversing the north atlantic. The ship had departed from Port Jersey in Southern New York and was heading towards the Spanish port Algeciras. The cargo ship, which was manned by 28 sailors, was boarded close to the Azores archipelago; It has since halted all communication with officials. The ship's cargo is estimated to be worth 180 million pounds. 

A British frigate, patrolling the area, responded to its distress call but it couldn't reach the boat in time to prevent the hijacking. It has continued to monitor the ship from afar. Two hours after the pirates boarded, the frigate was contacted by a hijacker. It confirmed that if an attempt to board the ship was made, the hostages would be executed. They demanded a sum of one hundred million pounds to be delivered at the address: 10 Elm Ave, Cheltenham, PA 19012, USA. Furthermore, the frigate witnessed the armed pirates plant explosives across the ship's deck. The hijackers are expected to be a part of the British crime group, The Syndicate. 

The Central African fire is still ablaze. Firefighters and the British army have worked tirelessly throughout the past days and nights to tame the fire but it has been to no avail. As winds blow it further south, it has now crossed the border into the AFR’s African colony. Fortunately, efforts to contain the fire on its northern flank have been successful. It is expected to effectively be pushed out of British land. British diplomats in the AFR have warned the nations officials about the upcoming fire. 

You can refer to this extremely professional and detailed map to see the size of the fire. The blue is the fire and the red is the AFR's colony:

An expansion to the Gibraltar naval base has been granted permission to start construction. Because of the small amount of land Gibraltar occupies, the leading architect took the decision to make the entire project float upon the peninsula’s south coast. It will consist of five large barracks, each capable of housing 1,000 personnel. It will also consist of a multitude of piers and floating harbours; this provides enough docking space for an entire combat British fleet. It hasn't been officially confirmed but various sources point to there being a network of tunnels being excavated under Gibraltar. An influx of tunnel boring machines into Gibraltar has further solidified the claim. An estimate for the cost of the project exceeds six billion pounds.

A map of the project. The green is what is being constructed: