BANGLADESHI SEAFARER KIDNAPPED FROM THE VESSEL IN NIGERIA

Five crew members have been kidnapped from a 6,436 dwt tanker after pirates attacked the vessel offshore Niger Delta, Nigeria on March 26, according to the UK-based security broker agency Asket.

This is indeed a very Shocking News as one of our Bangladeshi seafarer Third Engineer S.M.Al -Amin Talukder, CDC no-C/O/ 5021, Passport no. AF 3466798, was kidnapped from the Vessel “MT SAMPATIKI” on 26th March 2016. Other crew members included a Pakistani Master and the Chief Officer, Indian Chief Engineer and Second Engineer.

A spokesperson for the local agent – Asia Marine Agency said that they received a call from the Mumbai branch office on 26th morning and learned about the kidnapping of the Third Engineer S.M. Al Amin Talukder. The agent further indicated their principal Transocean Singapore Pte Ltd, gave them hope the crew will be released soon. They have reported the incident to the Director General of Shipping and the President of Bangladesh Merchant Marine officers Association (BMMOA), Capt Zillur Rahman Bhuiyan in writing.

At least eight pirates boarded the chemical tanker MT Sampatiki after midnight and remained onboard the vessel for four hours, after which they departed the ship with hostages.

The 2008-built vessel reported the attack, which occurred some 30 miles off the coast of Bonga, via VHF.

Asket added that there were no injuries reported to the remaining crew members, however, the pirates damaged some of the equipment aboard the tanker.

MT Sampitiki sailed to the port of Lagos after the incident, AIS data shows. At the time of the incident the Liberia-flagged chemical/oil products tanker was on its way from the Nigerian Port Harcourt to the port of Luba in Equatorial Guinea.

Chemical Tanker Sampatiki – Image: Морской Телеграф

According to an online Nigerian newspaper, National Mirror, strong indications have emerged that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, has intensified efforts towards rescuing five crew members kidnapped offshore Niger Delta on board a Liberian flagged chemical tanker, MT Sampatiki last week. Already, the agency has established contacts with the Interpol Regional Bureau and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC. Director General of the agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, assured that the agency would leave no stone un-turned in its efforts to ensure that the five crew members were rescued alive. It was reliably gathered that as part of such desperate efforts to achieve this goal, the agency had initiated discussions with the Interpol Regional Bureau and the UNODC with a view to reaching their respective bureaus in Togo with any useful information that may lead to the rescue of the vessel and crew.

The agency’s boss had said that information on the hijack of the vessels and subsequent abduction of the crew members was reported to the agency on March 26, 2016 after which the agency swung into action. Investigations also showed that the decision of the agency to swing into action follows a directive by the Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, in which he instructed the agency to investigate the incidence with a view to recovering both the abducted crew and the tanker ship. Available records show that the embattled MT Sampatiki arrived Port Harcourt Port on March 21, 2016 with a load of gas oil but was detained by Nigerian surveyors for some deficiencies in her documentations after she was allowed to sail out of the Port Harcourt Port on March 24, 2016. Peterside had earlier disclosed that in addition to seeking assistance from the UNODC and Interpol, the agency had also contacted the Nigerian Navy to officially inform it of the incident and has also requested for the deployment of personnel and relevant vessels in search of the crew and the vessel.

He said: “We have also deployed the agency’s satellite surveillance facility in conjunction with intelligence from the Nigerian Navy, which led to the tracking of the vessel, which is now offshore Lome. “While the search for the abducted crew members has been intensified, we have also made contacts with the Maritime Administrations of the Republic of Benin and that of Togo to ensure safe return of the vessel. We are also in touch with the flag state and the owners of MT Sampatiki,” he also said emphatically. Investigations also showed that as a fall out of the recent abduction incident, the agency has also deployed some of its operational vessels manned by military personnel of the Maritime Guard Command MGC to enforce security with a view guaranteeing a 24 -hour patrol of the nation’s maritime domain.

While assuring that the Nigerian nation has what it takes to guarantee security of lives and property within her maritime domain, he promised that the agency under his watch would do everything within its powers to achieve that. According to him, the agency is working with the relevant authorities including the National Assembly, to ensure that the antipiracy Bill which has been at the National Assembly in the last two years was passed into law without further delay. It would be recalled that there had been increases of piracy and sea robbery off the Gulf of Guinea, especially Nigeria.

In addition to the above, 4 Bangladeshi sailors are languishing the Nigerian jails for almost a year. All indications are that these crew members did not commit any crime but have been in a jeopardy as a result of being on a vessel that was employed in a dubious trade. A Bangladeshi Manning agent from Chittagong, Captain Mohammed Abul Khair (Reliance Shipping Services) recruited these mariners for this ill-fated ship.

These mariners were identified as follows:

1. Rafiqul Islam, CDC no: C/O/5869, rank:   3/E, passport no: AF6171936, joining: 16-March-2015 from Cotonou anchorage, Republic of Benin, Bangladesh Marine Academy, 44th batch, city: Jamalpur.
2. M. Shahinul Islam, CDC no: C/O/5303, rank: 3/E, passport no: AF1727571, joining: 22-March-2015 from Cotonou anchorage, Republic of Benin, Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Academy, 26th batch, city: Satkhira.
3. Shaikh Shibly Nomany, CDC no: T/30016, rank: pump man, joining: 03-march-2015 from Cotonou anchorage, Republic of Benin, city: Kushtia.
4. MD Zahirul Islam, CDC no: C/O/5255, passport no: AF9720849, joining: 03-march-2015 from Cotonou anchorage, Republic of Benin, city: Mymensing.

These mariners were employed aboard a Panamanian flag vessel “Asteris” under management of Greek company Western Mediterranean Shipping S.A. The vessel and the crew members were intercepted by Nigerian Navy ship Beecroft during a routine operation in the Nigeria waters on March 28, 2015 with 3423.097 Metric Tons of crude oil without lawful authority or appropriate license. Upon interception, Captain of the vessel claimed that the vessel was not carrying any product but further investigation by the Commission revealed that the vessel was carrying petroleum product without the relevant documents indicating where the product was lifted and its destination.

After arresting Nigerian Navy brought the vessel from border area to Lagos anchorage. On 30^th March, 2015, the Navy took 11 crews including the Super, the Captain, Chief Officer and the Chief Engineer to their detention center for investigation. After 7 days they came back on board with Navy. Then the Navy handed this matter to the Nigerian EFCC (Economic & Financial crimes commission) for further investigation.

The court found five Filipinos and four Bangladeshi crew members of the ship guilty of oil smuggling and gave them an option to choose between jail and paying a hefty fine of USD100, 000. They were each convicted of four counts of illegally storing crude oil, each count carrying five years in prison. The vessel was seized and cargo on board forfeited to the Federal Government.

Bangladesh Merchant Marine officers Association (BMMOA) with the cooperation of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) are working on the release of these mariners. Additionally, funds were raised from Bangladeshi mariners worldwide and as it stands now, a proper medium is being explored how to hand over the money in lieu of the release of Bangladeshi Mariners.

It is indeed alarming that the Manning agents in Bangladesh are not monitored tightly by the relevant government authorities. They always seem to get away even if the people’s lives are at stake.

For further reading please visit the following sites:

https://themaritimeblog.org/2016/03/discussion-regarding-the-issue-of-the-4-mariners-in-nigerian-jail/

https://themaritimeblog.org/2016/02/a-message-from-bangladeshi-sailor-in-the-nigerian-jail/