Navy headquarters has urged Nigerians to disregard falsehood being peddled that an Oil tanker, MT Prestigious arrested for suspected oil theft was released to their owners.
Checks by The Guardian revealed that the tanker, which is still under investigation is still berthing at naval facility in Bonny.
According to naval spokesman, Commodore Adams Aliu, “It was total falsehood. Please disregard such. The vessel is in our custody.”
A group, the Niger Delta Renaissance Network had accused the Nigerian Navy of releasing a vessel apprehended by private security for stealing crude oil in the region.
The group alleged that the ship was initially intercepted by a private security firm contracted to monitor pipeline vandalism and oil theft in Nigeria.
However, Newcross Exploration and Production Limited, the vessel owners, insisted that their tanker has not yet been released to them by the navy.
They appealed to the authorities to fastrack its release as their merchant vessel is clean and would never get involved in illicit activities.
In a letter to the Chief Executive of
Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, dated May 6, the company had insisted that their tanker was never involved in any illicit business, adding that NewcrossEP was ready and willing to cooperate with any relevant and legal authority as to the integrity of the barging solution.
Their words: “We hereby wish to provide an update on the visit by the IGP Illegal Bunkering Team (“Operation Tantita”) to MT Prestigious which occurred on May 2, 2024.
“The IGP team alleged that they received reports of illegal bunkering activities of a vessel with an IMO number matching MT Prestigious WD, the 2nd mother vessel deployed in Bonny to support the NewcrossEP barging operations.
“Although no clear evidence of the allegations was shared, written testimony was taken from the MT Prestigious Captain, Donna Spectre (barging vendor) Representative, and NewcrossEP representative confirming the vessels only purpose is to convey crude to Bonny Terminal SBM3.
“Subsequently, a request was made to collect cargo samples for finger printing which cannot be granted without NUPRC written approval and the presence of an independent laboratory.
“On Saturday, May 4th, Navy was directed to suspend our operations on MT Prestigious WD and MT Montagu pending the conclusion of the investigation.
“We wish to state that NewcrossEP is ready and willing to cooperate with any relevant and legal authority as to the integrity of the barging solution.
“However, we urgently seek the intervention of NUPRC on the IGP Team to ensure that due process is followed and this threat to our operations can be quickly resolved considering the critical role we play in generating value for the Nation.
“The potential impact of this delay has numerous financial implications for the Nation, amongst others includes: Suspension of more than 100kbopd in crude oil production, Suspension of gas delivery for domestic and export supply (e.g. NLNG), Disruption of terminal operations and lifting programmes due to low stock inventory.
“These impacts represent the interest of key stakeholders and operators that rely on this evacuation solution.
As stated, we eagerly await your intervention into this investigation to ensure we do not lose significant value for the Nation.”