A Norwegian 3 million-barrel-capacity tanker, named MT HEROIC — with stolen Nigerian crude has been arrested, further giving credence to claims and prior revelations that a major oil theft is going on in Nigeria.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian Navy confirmed the arrest of the foreign supertanker in Equatorial Guinea after it fled Nigeria’s AKPO oilfield.
Confirming the arrest on Wednesday, Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, spokesperson of the Nigerian Navy, said the supertanker with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) registration number: 9858058 was arrested through a security collaboration among Gulf of Guinea countries.
The recent arrest comes at a point the oil production in the country has been crashing drastically.
The New Diplomat reports Nigeria lost 28 million barrels of oil between January and July 2022, according to NNPC Ltd estimates.
Despite posting a high crude oil production figure of 1.399 million barrels per day in January 2022, Nigeria’s production crashed to as low as 1.084mbpd in July.
By dropping from 1.399mbpd in January to 1.084mbpd in July, it means the country lost about 315,000 barrels of crude oil daily, amounting to 28.4 million barrels of oil during the six months interval.
With the massive drop in oil production, oil industry experts have attributed the decline to oil theft.
A source who reportedly spoke on the arrested supertanker said it has a capacity for three million barrels of oil, which accounts for about three times the one million barrels per day (bpd) currently being produced by Nigeria.
Giving account of how the arrest was made, the source said the supertanker, a Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), was observed by the Nigerian Navy’s Falcon Eye Maritime Domain Awareness system to have arrived Akpo offshore oil field operated by Total SA at midnight of August 8 for loading operations without valid documents, especially the NNPCL clearance.
A report by Thisday quoted the source to have disclosed that preliminary findings showed that the vessel was owned by Hunter Tankers AS, domiciled in Scandinavia, Norway, but operated by Trafigura Maritime Logistics situated in the Netherlands.
The source said further inquiry from NNPCL confirmed the vessel’s presence and intended loading operation to be illegal due to lack of relevant clearance by the agency.
Based on the information gathered, the source revealed that Nigerian Navy sent its operatives, the NNS GONGOLA to intercept and challenge MT HERIOC IDUN within the vicinity of Akpo oil field for her suspicious presence in Nigerian waters.
“On arrival of NNS GONGOLA at the location and communication with MT HEROIC IDUN, inquiry revealed that the vessel had 26 crew members on-board, comprising 16 Indians, eight Sri Lankans, one Philippine, and one Pole.
“The captain of MT HEROIC IDUN also revealed that the vessel arrived the oil field to load crude destined for Ziba in Equatorial Guinea. Further questioning revealed that MT HEROIC IDUN had no appropriate documentation for the intended loading operation at Akpo Oil Field, as earlier confirmed by NNPC.“All efforts to get clarification and additional information regarding the loading operation from the shipping agent of Inchcape shipping and owners of Idun maritime Limited proved abortive,” the source was quoted to have said.
Speaking further, the source added that the supertanker having failed the initial test was directed to proceed to Bonny Fairway for further investigation.
However, it was gathered that the captain of MT HEROIC IDUN deliberately refused to comply with the directive, despite several warnings. The captain was said to have increased speed and altered course towards Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone boundaries, in an apparent move to evade arrest.
“This misleading action by the MT HEROIC IDUN and her shipping agent give strong indication that the vessel was, indeed, in Nigeria to load crude oil illegally and, hence, the desperate defiance to evade arrest.“To further buttress this, the vessel had earlier responded to all questions during the questioning by the Nigerian Navy Ship, thereby affirming its recognition of NNS GONGOLA and dismissing their fabricated claim of coming under attack by sea pirates.
“It is believed that the vessel would be handed over to Nigeria for further investigation,” the source added.
