A Nigerian court on Friday ordered an end to the eight-month detention of a VLCC and its 26-strong crew over disputed oil smuggling allegations after a multimillion-dollar plea deal, according to sources close to the case.
The 300,000-dwt Heroic Idun (built 2020) and its multinational crew have been detained since August 2022 by Equatorial Guinea and then Nigeria following a bitter dispute over a failed loading of oil at the Akpo terminal.
After months of being held without charge, the seafarers were detained on the ship accused of piracy and oil smuggling offences that were condemned as “trumped-up” and tantamount to extortion by a shipmasters’ association.
The agreement on Friday will finally allow the Heroic Idun and its crew to leave Nigeria after a saga that became a symbol of the growing concerns about the criminalisation of seafarers and sparked outrage within the industry.
Under the deal, charges have been dropped against the crew but the ship accepted a maritime offence, and a fine of 5m Nigerian naira ($11,000) was paid. A further payment, believed to be in the millions of dollars, was also agreed as part of the deal.
The agreement will allow the tanker to restart trading after missing eight months when VLCC spot rates went from negative territory to reaching a peak of nearly $80,000 a day, according to the Baltic Exchange’s time charter equivalent rates.
The tanker, owned by Idun Maritime Ltd, a subsidiary of Ray Car Carriers, requires some maintenance after being moored off Port Harcourt since November and it is not immediately clear when it will leave Nigerian waters.
The crew of 16 Indians including the master, eight Sri Lankans, a Filipino and the Polish chief engineer were heading back to the ship and it was hoped they would leave within the next two weeks.
Geir Sekkesæter, managing director of ship manager OSM Maritime, said: “Yes, it’s good news. It’s been approved by the court. We have an agreement in place but they are still in Nigeria.
“But it looks like we are on a positive track. The seafarers are not exposed to any charges and they will hopefully be able to come home soon — although it won’t be in a couple of hours. But in a couple of weeks, I hope they will be home.”
The saga started in August last year after the tanker left the Akpo terminal where it had been due to load oil because the master feared an attack following an approach in the darkness by an unidentified ship.
The master sent the crew to the citadel and took the advice of war risk insurers and managers to take the ship some 250 miles (402 km) offshore and sent a mayday.
The crew later discovered the unidentified ship was a Nigerian navy vessel. The Heroic Idun was subsequently detained at gunpoint by an Equatorial Guinea naval ship and escorted to the Port of Luba.
The crew was split up, with some taken from the ship, detained and subjected to interrogations of up to 14 hours, according to a submission to the International Maritime Organization by the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
The owners in October paid a fine to Equatorial Guinea of close to $2m for failing to display the correct flag in the expectation of securing the ship’s release but it never happened, according to the ship’s war risk insurer DNK.
It prompted the flag state, the Marshall Islands, to lodge a case with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, its first in 15 years, calling for the ship’s prompt release by Equatorial Guinea.
The complaint was withdrawn after the ship was transferred under escort to Nigeria despite complaints from lawyers acting for the owners that the move was unlawful.
The crew members were charged in Nigeria with attempting to lift oil without a licence and an offence under Nigeria’s suppression of piracy act. They were bailed to remain on the ship where they have been kept under armed guard.
The detention of the Heroic Idun was cited by Nigerian authorities as a sign that they were getting tough on oil theft, which is costing the country billions of dollars every year.
Idun Maritime, protection and indemnity insurer Gard, ship manager OSM and BP all said the vessel had been cleared to load when it was detained.
The International Federation of Shipmasters' Associations, which represents shipmasters, said the case highlighted the “appalling” abuse of the rights of seafarers.
The organisation said the crew had been arrested on “totally trumped-up charges and this is tantamount to international extortion” in a submission to the IMO.
Comments by senior Nigerian officials pointed to a breakthrough in talks over a plea deal this week.
The head of the Nigerian Maritime Administration, Dr Bashir Jamoh, said that the owners had gone to authorities to discuss a plea deal but the process was “yet to be firmed up”, Nigerian newspaper Vanguard reported.
“The court adjourned till the 28th of this month. We will now come out with a harmonized position to settle the matter,” Jamoh was reported as saying.
