The VLCC Heroic Idun has finally left Nigerian waters after nine months of detention by two countries in a multi-million-dollar dispute that centred on the mistaken identification of a navy vessel.
The Nigerian Navy handed control of the 300,000-dwt Heroic Idun (built 2020) to the master Tanuj Mehta over the weekend signalling the end of a legal battle after criminal charges were dropped against the 26-strong crew.
Kpler ship tracking data showed the Heroic Idun leaving Nigerian waters on Sunday with the reported destination of Cape Town, South Africa.
Nigerian authorities had accused the crew of oil smuggling and piracy over an aborted loading of oil from an offshore terminal in August 2022. The ship left the area fearing a piracy attack after an approach from an unidentified vessel in the dark, which was later revealed as a Nigerian patrol ship.
The owners, charterers, managers and insurers of the ship all insisted that they had done nothing wrong. But the ship was subsequently detained by Equatorial Guinea, at the request of Nigeria, before it was transferred three months later to Nigeria.
Lawyers for the owners had tried to resist the move, saying it represented “unlawful rendition”.
Rolf Thore Roppestad, the CEO of Gard, the ship’s P&I insurer, said the treatment of the crew showed a “blatant disregard for basic human rights and international law”.
The saga only ended after a plea deal that involved the payment of $15m to the Nigerian government along with an apology from owner Idun Maritime, a subsidiary of Ray Car Carriers, to the Nigerian Navy for the “embarrassment” caused by the incident.
The company also admitted to a minor maritime offence as part of the deal that was struck last month and paid a fine of 5m naira ($11,000). Payments and paperwork delays meant that the ship was only allowed to leave on Sunday.
The company had also paid close to $2m in early October for failing to fly the flag of Equatorial Guinea in its waters.
The Nigerian Navy in a Facebook post claimed the episode further demonstrates its “practical commitment to ensure that only valid and authorised vessels are allowed to carry out export of crude oil or gas at the various oil terminals”.
The dispute, which one shipmaster’s group described as an attempted ‘extortion’ by Nigeria, is set to continue for months after the ship’s flag state, the Marshall Islands, brought a case against Equatorial Guinea at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
The detention of the ship coincided with the run-up to the Nigerian presidential election. Rampant oil theft was a key issue during the campaign.
The detention of the crew was raised at the International Maritime Organization, which drafted new guidelines in March for seafarers detained on suspicion of committing maritime crimes.
They say that seafarers should be recognised as a special category of workers who need special protection because of the global nature of their work.
The IMO called for accused seafarers to be treated fairly and said detention should be “for no longer than necessary”.
