A judge on Tuesday ordered that 26 crew members of a VLCC should stand trial next month in a controversial oil theft case brought by the Nigerian authorities despite criticism from shipping organisations.
The crew of the 300,000-dwt Heroic Idun (built 2020) have been held under guard since 12 August by Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria after they were investigated for an attempt to illegally lift oil from an offshore terminal.
Some of the men, mainly from India and Sri Lanka, were able to speak to lawyers on Tuesday for the first time since appearing in a Nigerian court nearly two months ago, according to their legal teams.
They have been detained on bail in the accommodation area on board the Ray Car Carriers-owned tanker. The Nigerian navy has refused to allow them to exercise on deck.
The first of two groups of men were brought ashore on Tuesday for the listed start of their trial in the city of Port Harcourt. The judge adjourned the case until 20 February without the men having to attend the court, said lawyers.
“It gives both sides a chance to see if they can resolve this without going through a trial,” said Stephen Askins, a maritime lawyer who has been working with insurers, owners, ship manager OSM and unions to try to free the men.
Some of the crew’s contracts have ended and had been due to return home.
The International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80% of the world’s merchant fleet, has described the detention of the men as “unacceptable” and called on Nigeria to release them.
The ship was detained days after the ship’s master left the Akpo oilfield off Port Harcourt in August after mistaking an approaching Nigerian naval vessel for a pirate ship.
The crew was held by Equatorial Guinea for three months before the men were taken on their ship to Nigeria.
All 26 have denied charges of attempting to lift oil without a licence and an offence under Nigeria’s suppression of piracy act.
The ship was sub-chartered by BP. The oil major and the ship’s owner, manager and insurer have all said that the Heroic Idun was cleared to load and the crew had done nothing wrong.
Lawyers acting for the men and the owner have brought separate legal proceedings seeking to declare the navy’s actions in taking the crew to Nigeria as unlawful. That case, being heard in Nigeria, has also been adjourned until 20 February, said Askins.
Stealing our crude
The Nigerian government has ordered the security agencies to end rampant crude oil theft before President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office in 2023 after eight years in power.
A senior naval officer last week told Nigerian media that the arrest of the Heroic Idun would serve as a deterrent “to those who are stealing our crude”.
