Eight Sri Lankans among crew detained in Equatorial Guinea

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Eight Sri Lankan sailors, who are part of a 26 member crew of MT Heroic Idun, an oil vessel, have been "illegally" detained by Equatorial Guinea since 14 August.

Apart from the Sri Lankan sailors, the crew also includes 6 Indian sailors and a national each of Poland and Philippines.

As per the crew, their vessel was arrested by an Equatorial Guinea naval ship on international waters on 12th August and brought to Luba port under naval escort and threat of legal action.

The vessel was arrested based on a request made by Nigeria.

The Nigerian Navy says it is conducting an investigation into the activities of MT HEROIC IDUN, a supertanker, arrested by Equatorial Guinea forces over alleged crude oil theft in Nigeria.

The vessel and its crew were arrested on August 7th by the Central African country after it fled from Nigeria’s AKPO oilfield when its alleged activities were uncovered by operatives of the Nigerian Navy.

Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, spokesperson of the Nigerian Navy, confirmed that the vessel is on it way back to Nigeria for further investigations.

He said after the investigation is complete, the office of the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) will determine whether or not the vessel and its crew will be prosecuted by the federal government.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited in September said it loses $700 million every month as a result of oil theft and vandalism at terminals.

The Incident:

 The Heroic Idun ship was supposed to load cargo of crude oil in Nigeria’s AKPO terminal on 8 August, but as per terminal instructions the loading operation was delayed and the ship never made any operations in Nigeria.

The same evening, the ship was approached by an unidentified craft claiming to be Nigerian Navy and asked to proceed with them.

The crew however could not identify the craft as it was night and the craft did not have its Automatic Identification System switched on. 

The crew was later told that this was not the normal course of action by the Nigerian Navy and that the vessel should not have followed any unauthorised orders. Even the AKPO terminal security could not positively identify the craft.

Fearing for the security of the crew, the ship sailed out of the location at full speed. The next day, on 9 August, the crew was informed that the unidentified craft was indeed a Nigerian naval vessel.

Three days later, the ship was arrested by an Equatorial Guinean naval vessel.

After the arrest, 15 crew members, consisting of 9 Indians, were taken ashore and have been held in detention at Malabo.

Out of the 11 crew members left on the ship, six are Indian nationals.

In a video released by the crew, it was said that they have fully cooperated with all the investigations carried out by the Equatorial Guinean authorities. The members ashore were even interrogated by Nigerian officials thrice since their arrest. Nigerian officials also visited the ship at Luba to carry out their investigations.

On 28 September, the crew ashore in Malabo were presented with a resolution stating the offences committed and the fine to be paid for the same.

To facilitate an early release of the crew from captivity, the owners of the vessel paid the fine within a week and same was confirmed as received by the Equatorial Guinean authorities.

However, the crew said that despite not being engaged in any unlawful activities, and despite paying the fine, the crew and ship are still held in Equatorial Guinea under arrest till date.

“Although we have not been mistreated or harassed in any way by the Equatorial Guinean authorities, and (we) appreciate the same, but since all investigations and payment of fine have been completed, we seek your help and assistance in facilitating our release. The crew members onboard the ship and the crew members held ashore are in an extremely critical mental condition and their physical health is also deteriorating rapidly,” the crew said in a letter released to the media.