Heroic Idun: The fireworks over Akpo oil lift

Sopuruchi Onwuka

After months of hunting, catching and detaining the ocean going crude oil carrier, MT Heroic Idun, swings in legal battle has started in Nigeria while diplomatic dispute is brewing in India where lawmakers are coming under pressure to get citizens out of detention.

The vessel, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), is currently being detained by the Nigerian Navy and its crew members remanded in custody by the order of a Port Harcourt High Court.

Following their arraignment and detention, the crew of the MT Heroic Idun has sued the Nigerian Navy which received the court summons for the suit which is instituted in Abuja.

In India, The Oracle Today gathered, family members of the crew and their representatives at the country’s national legislature are mounting pressure on their government to activate diplomatic channels and international arbitration to secure rapid release of the crew most of when are Indians.

Case started in August when the vessel came under pursuit by the Nigerian Navy following altercations over the legality of its presence in the vicinity of Nigeria’s floating terminal near the TotalEnergies operated oil fields in oil mining lease (OML) 130, deep offshore Niger Delta.

The OML 130 is an integrated production hub hosting two floating production, storage and offtake (FPSO) vessels from where government and its investing partners export the Akpo oil and condensate production as well as crude oil output from Egina field. Gas pipeline from the hub also connects TotalEnergies operated Amenam /Kpono integrated oil and gas facility from where gas from all connected company production sites in that axis is exported to the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) process plant in Bony Island, Rivers State.  TotalEnergies is an investing shareholder in NLNG.

It not clear who chattered the ship to lift liquids from the oil block but the managers of the vessel were emphatic the vessel was on a call to load consigment from the Akpo field.  

The Navy said MT Heroic Idun with a captain and 26 crew members comprising 16 Indians, 8 Sri Lankans, one Polish and one Filipino national evaded arrest by NNS Gongola around the Akpo Oil Field where it was found in the early hours of August 8 without valid papers.

According to the Navy, the vessel bore no identifying flag and failed to identify with authorities on arrival at the Nigerian maritime territory. The Navy also alleged that the marine tanker also bolted under security escort and raised a false piracy alarm with which it entered Equatorial Guinea without prior notice. 

According to the accounts of the Navy, the vessel had allegedly claimed it was scheduled to load product and was awaiting instructions from its owners and agents when the navy patrol gunboat intercepted it for illegally being around the restricted area.

It was gathered that the naval patrol boat had ordered Heroic Idun to be escorted towards Bonny Fairway Buoy for documentation and claim verification.

Instead of subjecting to security escort, the Navy said, the Heroic Idun allegedly beat it and fled to Equatorial Guinea with a false alarm that it was under pirate attack.

Accounts of the incident from the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, as delivered by the Chief of Policy and Plans at the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Saidu Garba, hold that the Heroic Indun outpaced the naval boats at full speed while being escorted.

Rear Admiral Saidu Garba takes the story from here.

 “Apart from refusing lawful arrest when ordered to turn around and follow NNS Gongola to Bonny anchorage pending when she will be cleared for loading by NNPC Ltd as it’s Captain claimed, the ship engaged full speed southwards towards the Sao Tome and Principe maritime area in a bid to evade 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 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. 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.

“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.”

“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 Heroin Idun for which she is now under the custody of the Navy for prosecution.”

The Navy sternly criticized the conduct of the captain and operators of MT Heroic Idun in the incident and declared the firmness of the Nigerian defence forces to continue maintaining the integrity of the country’s maritime territory.

Managers of Mt Heroic Idun, OSM Marine, declared that the vessel was supposed to load an oil consignment at Akpo Field in early August.

“While waiting for necessary clearance papers aft6er having tendered notice of readiness in line with voyage orders received from charterers, the Nigeria Navy approached the vessel under the cover of darkness in a way that caused serious concerns and it was believed to be an attempted piracy attack.

“The vessel following Best Management Practice escaped the area ad out into international waters,” The company stated.

Documents filed at the Internartional Tribunal for the law of the Sea showed that the MT Heroic Idun was later interdicted by Equatorial Guinean Navy under a maritime code of conduct in line with signal from Nigeria about investigations into suspicions of oil theft.

It was also learnt that apart from arrest and deportation to Nigeria, the Heroic Idun was fined some E2.0 million for violating the marine territory of Equatorial Guinea. And the operators of the vessel had paid the amount with the hopes that the tanker would be released into the international waters to enable it evade charges already being pressed by the Nigerian Ministry of Justice in Port Harcourt High Court 5 presided by Justice Turaki.

Indian High Commission in Nigeria had in its letter urged Equatorial Guinea to release the vessel and the crew the operating company had paid the monetary penalty imposed by the country.

While the MT Heroic Idun was still in Equatorial Guinea, Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched diplomatic efforts to get its eight nationals home from the ship, saying it was working with its embassies in Africa to ensure early return of the sailors.

The Ministry said the Sri Lankan embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, has been assigned to keep close contact with the sailors for real time assessment of developments.

The vessel and its crew were however delivered to Nigerian authorities to face charges already prepared by the Justice Ministry.

Mrs. Jones Nebo of the Ministry of Justice stated at a briefing that 17 of the 27 defendants were arraigned in court on Monday while the remaining 10 were arraigned Tuesday in Port Harcourt.

The developments on the Heroic Idun case are far from being a West African case. The fate of the ship and its crew members captured the interest and attention of the global maritime community and the interest of the families of the crew, especially in India.

The Hindu reported that local concerns remain high over the fate of Indian sailors of MT Heroic Idun who are now detained in Nigeria.

An article published by the newspaper stated that “the fear among the sailors is that they will be cut off from the world and don’t know when they would be freed.”

Indian High Commission in Nigeria had further requested the Nigerian foreign affairs ministry to carry out the investigation on its nationals in India.

Indian citizens in the crew, according to information available from the country, include three sailors namely, Xavier Prispan of Thoothukudi; Rajan Deepan Babu of Chennai; and Ramapuram Sukumar Harsha . The names of 13 others were not made available.

The detained vessel is assumed to be currently empty as it was yet to load any oil at the time the navy approached it on the suspicion that it entered a restricted area without authorization and attempted to load crude oil illegally.

Representative of the Justice Ministry, Mrs. Jones Nebo, said at a briefing that there are 27 defendants in number adding that 17 were arraigned in court on Monday while the remaining 10 were arraigned Tuesday in Port Harcourt.

OSM Group CEO, Finn Amund Norbye, is worried that the vessel is being investigated for crime, complaining that the crew members are now being treated as criminals.

“OSM together with Ship Owners, Insurers, Legal advisors, Flag state, Embassies, ITF, and other industry players have worked continuously to bring this to a conclusion. We believe that with the development to move the vessel to a neighboring state jurisdiction, the chance for any swift resolution is further diminished.

“We must now see urgent action to resolve the situation. For the sake of our 26 seafarers, OSM and its stakeholders will continue to work tirelessly with all parties ready to assist us with this concerning situation.”

All the men had however denied the charges of attempting to deal with crude oil within the Nigeria Exclusive Economic zone without lawful authority.

When the case came up at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the judge ruled that the VLCC be detained, and the captain and crew members of the vessel remanded.

Following their arraignment and detention, the crew of the MT Heroic Idun sued the Nigerian Navy.

The Nigerian Navy received the court summons in a case instituted in Abuja by the crew members who challenge their arraignment and trial for conspiracy, stealing and attempting to deal in crude oil.

The Oracle Today reports that the vessel had arrived the vicinity of Nigeria’s oil export terminals under suspicious circumstances at a time investigations were ongoing in the industry over mysterious oil and condensate production losses.

The government’s pipeline protection contractors have recently discovered an illegal export pipeline that feeds ghost ships with 250,000 barrels of stolen crude per day. There are also reported onshore and swamp siphoning points that are suspected to feed barges that transport stolen crude to ocean going tankers stationed outside the nation’s maritime territories.

Despite being the continent’s biggest oil producer with the most developed industry, government and industry players have grappled with uncontrollable production losses attributable to illegal export syndicates that thrive on stolen crude.

On the whole, government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and industry stakeholders battles production accounting controversies over loss and illegal export of over 400,000 barrels of wellhead hydrocarbon liquids per day.

The overall industrial scale oil thieving context has challenged the nation’s security forces and made the Nigerian maritime territories that are contiguous to oil export terminals to sensitive to loitering vessels. The arrest and detention of MT Heroic Idun is a departure from past cases where such incidents were swept under the carpet. While the culpability of MT Heroic Idun is being determined by the court, the case is a clear signal to international illegal export rings.  

Meanwhile resolving the prevailing case is easy. Who chattered Heroic Idun to load oil at Akpo field? That simple!