The Nigerian Navy has arrested a ship, Motor Tanker (MT) HEROIC IDUN, owned by Hunter Tankers AS, domiciled in Scandinavia, Norway, for illegally trying to lift crude oil in Nigeria.
Naval Chief of Policy and Plans (CPPLANS) Sa’idu Garba, a rear admiral, made this known at a press briefing on Friday in Abuja.
According to the Navy, MT HEROIC IDUN entered the Nigerian maritime environment and headed for Akpo Field without any form of authorisation or clearance by the NNPC.
The CPPLANS revealed that the ship arrived Akpo Field midnight on 7 August with the obvious intention of lifting crude oil within the field illegally but was stopped by the Nigerian Navy Maritime Domain Awareness.
“The outcome of all relevant enquiries from the controlling agency, NNPC Ltd, revealed that the vessel was not cleared to be in Akpo Oilfield.
“This revelation necessitated the deployment of the Nigerian Navy Inshore Patrol Craft, NNS GONGOLA, to investigate the super tanker’s activities at Akpo on 8 Aug 22. NNS GONGOLA arrive Akpo Oilfield and interrogated MT HEROIC IDUN, asking critical questions including her mission and approval status to enter Akpo Field among others,” he said.
He also revealed that the ship was later arrested at a location in Equatorial Guinea after a pursuit on the sea.
Read full statement:
PRESS BRIEFING AT NAVAL HEADQUARTERS ABUJA ON FRIDAY 19 AUGUST 2022
TEXT OF PRESS BRIEFING ON THE ARREST OF MT HEROIC IDUN BY EQUATORIAL GUINEA NAVY
The…
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