Vessel Detained For Crude Oil Lifting is Now a Rogue Ship

The controversial vessel, MT Madina, was arrested in Ghana earlier this month for its alleged involvement in crude oil lifting. Now however, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has confirmed that the vessel is not Nigerian. The ship has been detained in Ghana since her arrest by the Ghanaian Navy. The MT Madina was imprisoned for discharging stolen crude at the Saltpond Offshore Producing Company Limited in Accra.

Saltpond representatives stressed that the company made sure to stop any attempts of the vessel leaving until Navy officers arrived.

Recently, the Secretary General from the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria told reporters that the ISAN asked NIMASA for clarification on the status of the tanker. Upon further investigation, they then found out that the vessel is indeed not Nigerian-registered; it is not in the register.

PM News in Nigeria reported that the ISAN explained that the mere fact that she is flying the flag of a country in which she is not registered is enough reason for her arrest, as the vessel was Nigerian-flagged. Any ship that does that has violated a condition that warrants her arrest and detention, such a ship is called a rogue ship.

The owners of the tanker, who reportedly alerted security operatives along the west coasts, reported that the ship was supposed to transfer oil from a small field in Nigeria into a larger ship, identified as the MT North Wind Grace, but the captain and crew instead allegedly decided to steal the cargo. Subsequently, the owners of the vessel alerted the Benin and Ghana security operatives and successively traced the ship to Ghana. Ghana Armed Forces did confirm that the ship was arrested after a tip from counterparts in Nigeria.