By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Navy in Equatorial Guinea has arrested an oil vessel MV Heroic Idun with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number 9858058, which fled from Nigeria, after an alleged attempted loading at the Akpo field.
The ship which has about three million barrels of crude oil was arrested on Friday with the assistance of intelligence supplied to that country by the Nigerian Navy (NN). It had earlier arrived at Nigeria’s Akpo field on August 7.
The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) GONGOLA had sought clarification from the ship when it was first sighted around the AKPO Deep offshore oil field operated by a multinational firm at midnight on August 7.
Investigations however revealed that the the ship, alleged to have come into the country’s waters to load products neither had the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited’s (NNPC) loading permit, nor valid documents to be in the country’s waters.
The Nigerian Navy ordered the vessel to head to the Bonny Fairway Buoy for further checks since it did not have the required loading permit from the Nigerian authorities.
“The captain of the tanker refused to co-operate and rather altered course towards Sao Tome and Principe,” thethe West Africa Regional Maritime Security Centre (CRESMAO) says.
Adding, “The tanker deliberately raised a false alarm to International Maritime Bureau, IMB that she was under pirate attack.”
The Nigerian Navy had alerted their counterpart in Sao Tome & Principe on the movement of the ship which had 26 crew comprising 16 Indians, eight Srilankans, a Polish and and one Filipino, which later led to its arrest.
Equatorial Guinea stopped the MV Heroic Idun on the afternoon of Friday, August 12, offshore the island of Annobon, according to Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. The navy escorted the vessel to Luba, arriving on August 13.
The vice president said the VLCC was trading in “illegal fuel”. The Nigerian Navy alerted Equatorial Guinea to the tanker’s escape. Equatorial Guinea’s detention of the vessel “is a sign that the only weapon to protect the coasts of the Gulf of Guinea is collaboration between the countries”, he said.
According to Marine Traffic, the ship remains offshore Bioko.
The MV Heroic Idun visited Singapore in June, arriving in South Africa in mid-July before heading on to Nigeria.
Norway’s Hunter Group sold the Hunter Idun on July 22. The company did not disclose the identity of the buyer. A report from Splash 247 named DAO Shipping as the owner.
The company and Anglo Eastern, which manages the vessel, have not yet responded to a request for comment. TotalEnergies has also been asked to comment.
According to IMB, offshore crime in the Gulf of Guinea has receded. The agency reported in July that there were 58 incidents in the first half of the year, with 12 in the Gulf of Guinea.
Dr Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, an academic at St Andrews focused on maritime security, said the false report was damaging for the region and the attempts to combat piracy.
Currently, vessels entering the region must pay the War Risk Insurance Premium. Nigeria, and other states, have invested in offshore security in an attempt to have this premium withdrawn.
“I still think that insurance companies should reconsider the premium. One year is enough to make a decision based on the current realities,” said Okafor-Yarwood.
