The Nigerian Navy has said that MT Heroic Idun, a large crude carrier would be sanctioned for attempted crude oil theft at the Akpo Oilfield, deep offshore Bonny, a joint venture operated by Total Energies.
According to a factsheet made available by the Nigerian Navy, the vessel would also be sanctioned for allegedly entering a restricted zone around an Oilfield without authorization and falsely accusing a Nigerian Navy Ship of piracy.
The vessel, owned by Messrs Idun Maritime Ltd, with Messrs Inchcape Shipping as its agent in Nigeria and OSM Ship Management AS as the vessel manager was accosted by the Nigerian Navy on Aug. 8, 2022 shortly after midnight.
Although, at the time the vessel was accosted by the Nigerian Navy, it had not lifted any crude oil from the oilfield,
“The vessel, following its initial encounter with Nigerian law enforcement, subsequently sailed out of Nigeria’s waters towards the Nigeria-Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Zone and into the Equatorial Guinea EEZ, seeking to flee.
“The vessel thereafter raised a false international piracy alarm of being under attack by the NN ship. It is instructive to note that this is the same ship MT HEROIC IDUN had earlier had contact and communicated with, that she later referred to as a pirate ship.
“Nigerian authorities later made contact with the Equatorial Guinea Navy (EGN), and based on exchange on information, the Vessel was arrested by the Equatorial Guinea Navy on 10th August 2022.” It read.
The factsheet revealed that there was no need for the Nigerian Navy to pursue the fleeing ship or forcefully arrest it as there is a robust regional security architecture that could be depended on to ensure that the ship is held accountable.
The Nigerian Navy further commended the ‘Yaoundé Architecture’, for enabling the seamless security cooperation.
“After arresting the vessel and investigating the circumstances of its entry into the country, Equatorial Guinea imposed a sizable fine on her for sailing through the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) without displaying the Equatorial Guinean flag.
“The company managing the vessel has since confirmed payment of the fine.
“The Equatorial Guinea Government has now handed over the vessel to the Nigerian Navy as confirmed by a Nov. 6, 2022 tweet from the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea” it read.
The handover was carried out in Equatorial Guinea on November 6, 2022. It is now expected that
The Nigerian Navy said in the factsheet that the Vessel will return to Nigeria for further investigations by the Nigerian Government on the charges of; “entering the restricted zone around an Oilfield without authorization.
“Illegally attempting to load crude oil from Nigeria without appropriate documentation, which is tantamount to economic sabotage.
“Falsely accusing a Nigerian Navy Ship of piracy on international maritime reporting platforms, a Naval Ship it had earlier communicated with without ambiguity about the identity of the NN Ship.”
This action of MT HEROIC IDUN according to the Nigerian Navy is capable of denting the international image of Nigeria and also making nonsense of the gains recorded by the country’s security agencies in the maritime sector.
Nigerian Navy however said that the MT HEROIC IDUN will be brought back to Nigeria in order to clear any misconceptions about its involvement in crude oil theft.
“If the vessel is found innocent, it will be released. If found guilty of breaking the laws of Nigeria, the appropriate sanctions will be enforced, to send a strong message of deterrence.
“It is important to stress that Nigeria has followed due process in its handling of this entire incident and will continue to abide by the principles of due process and fair and transparent investigations.” it stated