- You may recall that on Friday 19 August 2022 the Naval
Headquarters briefed the Press on the arrest of Motor Tanker
HEROIC IDUN by the Equatorial Guinean Navy. It was mentioned that
the Very Large Crude oil Carrier (VLCC) had entered the Nigerian
Maritime Environment (NME) on 7 August 2022 and headed for Akpo
Field without any form of authorisation or clearance. For the
avoidance of doubt, MT HEROIC IDUN (IMO: 9858058) is registered
in Marshall Island with an overall length of 336-metres, 60 metres
breadth and capacity of 3 million barrels. The vessel was spotted by
the Nigerian Navy Maritime Domain Awareness facility and a Nigerian
Navy (NN) Inshore Patrol Craft, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS)
GONGOLA probed the legitimacy of her presence in the Total Safe
Anchorage operated Akpo Field. Following the interrogation, the
Captain of MT HEROIC IDUN duly responded to NNS GONGOLA and
further stated that his vessel was without relevant clearance to
operate in the Field. - The vessel was therefore ordered to turn around and follow
NNS GONGOLA to Bonny anchorage pending when she will be cleared
for loading by NNPC Ltd. However, she bluntly declined on the claims
that she had been told by her agent not to take directives from the
Nigerian Navy Ship. Thereafter, she engaged full speed southwards
towards the Sao Tome and Principe maritime area in a bid to evade
arrest. Apart from refusing lawful arrest, the Captain of the vessel
made a broadcast of false piracy attack call to International Maritime
Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre to mislead mariners that NNS
GONGOLA was a pirate vessel and possibly concoct an alibi for her
desperate action. On the piracy alert, the Nigerian Navy also through
international collaboration alerted relevant piracy reporting centres
through CRESMAO and ECOWAS ZONE F Cotonou headed by
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Nigerian Navy officers for the alert to be cancelled immediately
which was done by IMB. Suffice to state that Nigeria has not
recorded any piracy attack in its waters in over one year. Hence, this
mischievous act by MT HEROIC IDUN was clearly aimed at tarnishing
the good image of the maritime domain of Nigeria, which we have
worked very hard to achieve and sustain.
- The Nigerian Navy therefore invoked the collaboration of
neighbouring Equatorial Guinea through the Yaoundé Architecture to
arrest the vessel. With the aid of the Nigerian Navy surveillance
facility, MT HEROIC IDUN was tracked and the Equatorial Guinea
Amphibious Ship, CAPTAIN DAVID was therefore vectored to
intercept and arrest the fleeing ship on 12 Aug 22. Pertinently, MT
HEROIC IDUN was held at the Luba Anchorage in Bioko Island,
Equatorial Guinea while the country conducted her own investigations
owing to some infractions the vessel had also committed in the
country’s waters. Whilst these were ongoing, a formal request was
made to transfer the vessel to Nigeria as mentioned during the Press
Briefing on 19 August 2022. This was followed by diplomatic overtures
and negotiations towards achieving the transfer of HEROIC IDUN to
Nigeria. Suffice to add that both Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea are
signatories to the Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of
Piracy, Armed Robbery against Ships and Illicit Maritime Activity in
West and Central Africa of 2013 commonly referred to as the
‘Yaounde Code of Conduct’. The Code is backed by appropriate UN
Security Council Resolutions and provides the platform for
information sharing as well as coordination amongst signatories. This
includes handover of vessels or persons suspected to have committed
offences in each other’s States. It was based on this therefore that
MT HEROIC IDUN was brought back to Nigeria from Equatorial
Guinea on 12 November 2022.
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- The smear campaign put up by the ship in the Media space in a
fierce attempt to rubbish the transfer process by falsely gaining
international support/sympathy was thus bound to fail and perhaps an
indication that the vessel has a case to answer. Accordingly, on 6
November 2022, the vessel was handed over to Nigeria by Equatorial
Guinea. Subsequently, she cast off Equatorial Guinea waters under
Nigerian Navy escort on 11 November and arrived off Bonny Offshore
Terminal II on 12 November 2022. MT HEROIC IDUN is presently in
the custody of the Nigerian Navy and based on legal opinion and
analysis, the super-tanker could be said to have committed the
following offences against the Nigerian State:
a. Attempt to deal in export crude oil without license or
authorization.
b. Entering the Restricted Zone around an Oilfield without
authorization and thus violating Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic
Zone regulations.
c. Falsely accusing a Nigerian Navy Ship of piracy on
International Maritime Reporting Platforms after having
communicated with the Nigerian Navy Ship without ambiguity
about her identity therefore violating sections of the
Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences
(SPOMO)Act 2019.
d. Violation of all lawful instructions at sea from Maritime
Law Authorities as well as Nigeria’s Miscellaneous Act and other
associated national and international laws ascribed to by Nigeria.
e. Violation of Custom and Immigration Laws as acceded by
Nigeria regarding the operations of Akpo Oil Terminal being an
Oil installation in the Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone.
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- At this juncture, the NN wishes to enjoin the media, well-
meaning Nigerians and well-wishers of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, to note the actual occurrence regarding MT HEROIC IDUN
for which she is now under the custody of the Navy for prosecution.
Please disregard rumours, mischievous and fictitious articles being
circulated by enemies of the State, in a bid to cause chaos and
discredit efforts of the Nigerian Navy and indeed Nigeria. The Navy
also acknowledges with immense gratitude the role played by the
Government of Equatorial Guinea in the arrest and transfer of MV
HEROIC IDUN to Nigeria. Equally, the NN acknowledges the untiring
efforts of the Federal ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and
Justice in the actualization of the transfer of this Vessel of Interest.
- The Navy assures Nigerians that in accordance with its
statutory responsibilities and drawing strength from the strategic
directives of the CNS, Vice Admiral Auwal Zubairu Gambo CFR, the
Service will maintain a posture of zero tolerance to crude oil theft
and other criminal activities in our maritime domain. The Navy shall
continue to work in synergy with other maritime stakeholders, Gulf of
Guinea states’ navies and strategic partners to ensure that Nigeria
derives maximum benefit from its natural maritime endowments. - Thank you for your attention.
SS GARBA
Rear Admiral
Nov 22 for Chief of the Naval Staff