Authourities in Switzerland are planning to take legal action against the Nigerian government for seizing and detaining a Swiss-flagged oil tanker; San Padre Pio since January of last year.
It was confirmed yesterday that Switzerland is considering an option of dragging Nigeria before the International Court of the Law of the Sea for keeping the Swiss-flagged tanker in detention for more than a year.
The tanker was seized on January 23, 2018 by the Nigerian Navy for alleged, illegal entry and illegal bunkering.
The Nigerian Navy, had in a March 9, 2018 statement, reported the arrest of the San Padre Pio, a tanker with 16 Ukrainian sailors and about 5,000 tons of oil cargo aboard, for unauthorized entry into Nigeria's waters and illicit fuel trade. The ship has been detained in Bonny since then.
In his defence shortly after the arrest, Captain of the tanker, Andriy Vaskov claimed that the vessel had permission from the Nigeria to ship the cargo into Nigeria. According to him, that was the ship’s fifth entry into the Nigerian port with oil products.
Andriy Vaskov, claimed that the vessel had clearance from the Nigerian Navy to ship the product to Nigeria. Vaskov named Blue Sea Marine Company as its Nigerian partners.
He had said that the detained ship lifted the product from Lome in Togo and attempted to discharge the at Odudu oil fields to its Nigerian, partners before the arrest.
“This is about the fifth time that we have transported petroleum product to the country”, he had admitted.
However, 12 of the crewmembers were released a month and a half after the arrest, the remaining four have been in custody since then.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement, that the four crew members have been enduring “difficult” living conditions.
The decision to file the case with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea reportedly comes after diplomatic efforts by the Swiss government failed to ensure the release of the vessel and its remaining crew.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry, in the statement condemned the seizure and subsequent detention of San Padre Pio and its crew for more than one year as “a violation of international law” and stated that Switzerland should exhaust all options “to safeguard its interests.”
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