• NIMASA: We extracted a written undertaking from the owners of MT Elixir
• Missing eight crew members still trapped inside the accommodation of the MT Tank
Two weeks after a marine accident occurred at the Bonga Terminal near Warri in Delta state leading to casualties, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has released MT Elixir, which collided with another tanker MT Tank which immediately sank with nine crew members on board.
The Director General of NIMASA, Mr Haruna Baba Jauro, at a news conference in Lagos two weeks ago said the agency was investigating the cause of the accident and that in the meantime, it has detained MT Elixir until search and rescue and necessary investigations are concluded.
Shipping Position Daily however confirmed authoritative last week that the MT Elixir was released last Thursday, even though the nine crew members were yet to be accounted for.
Speaking exclusively with our correspondent, a Lagos lawyer, Mr Olumide Oyewole, who is solicitor to Twinstomp Energy Limited, owners of the ill-fated tanker vessel; MT Tank that sank confirmed the development, alleging that the NIMASA Acting Director General, Haruna Baba Jauro may have been compromised.
He lamented that it was unfortunate that the agency allowed the MT Elixir to sail out of the country without carrying out any search and rescue operations, investigations or compensation for families of the dead crew members.
"I was told that NIMASA has released the vessel yesterday and off course we have been fighting that the vessel must not be released, those people died, there was no compensation for them, the ship sank, no compensation, they did not do any investigation they just released it"
"This is contrary to the promise that the DG made, obviously, a lot has gone under, because there was no investigation up till now, no search and rescue, they just concluded on their own that MT Elixir was not at fault, so those who died just died like that, no investigation conducted" he said.
Olumide alleged that NIMASA was under pressure from some powers-that-be, that the vessel must be released.
He told our correspondent that even though himself and the lawyers of MT Elixir were in open negotiations, there was no agreement reached as to who will take responsibility for the accident and compensation of the crew’s family.
"We were in open discussion with the lawyers of MT Elixir and we have not reached any level whatsoever" he said.
But, when our correspondent contacted, the Deputy Director, Public Relations of NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, she confirmed that the MT Elixir has been released.
She however failed to give further details surrounding the release.
"Yes it is true that we have released the vessel" she said.
But given further insight into why the ship was released, the NIMASA spokesperson, stated in an e-mail to Shipping Position Daily on Friday that, NIMASA has done the needful before the ship was allowed to sail out of the country.
It explained that: “The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has extracted a written undertaking from the owners of MT Elixir, the Martial Islands flagged vessel that was involved in a marine collision with MT Tank where eight crew members of MT Tank are still missing, that they will make available any crew or material that is needed in the future to conclude the investigation”
“As a member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Nigeria has ratified all the applicable IMO Conventions relating to incidents of this nature. The IMO regulation 1/21 makes it mandatory for Flag States to investigate any marine accident (as per IMO resolution A.849) and submit findings of such accident to the IMO”
“The purpose of these investigations by a flag administration like NIMASA is not to determine liability or apportion blame, but to establish what happened and why it happened so that causal factors are fully understood and action taken to prevent a re-occurrence. The report when concluded will also be sent to the Honourable Minister of Transport whose prerogative it is to set up a Marine Board of Inquiry that will further investigate on the matter and recommend applicable sanctions for the erring party”.
The NIMASA spokesperson confirmed that the ship was detained for 15 days. “Having detained MT Elixir for over 15 days and collected all the relevant information, statements, interviews, records and key items/equipment for the investigation including the Video Data Recorder, it is incumbent on the Agency to release MT Elixir bearing in mind that she is a foreign vessel. It is worth restating that the investigation being carried out by the flag administration (NIMASA) is in line with IMO Resolution A.849”.
On the issue of search for the victims, NIMASA disclosed that, “Search and Rescue for the missing crew has not closed. The eight crew members that are not accounted for are believed to be trapped inside the accommodation of the MT Tank which broke away from the other half and sank. The depth of that area ranges from about 1400 to 1500 meters. Most diving companies contacted can only dive as deep as 1000 meters and no more. Only Remote Operating Vehicles can be used in that depth and this equipment cannot be used for search and recovery”.
Discussion about this post