• “We are still investigating”: NIMASA
• “They are not our members”: Union
The remains of eight seafarers (mostly Nigerians) who drowned when the tanker vessel on which they were engaged; MT Tank collided with another tanker; MT Elixir, were yet to be found and handed over to their families for proper burial. The accident occurred on October 19, 2015.
It is exactly 34 days since the two ships collided. There were three survivors; body of one crew was found dead, while eight others, who were trapped in a compartment in the sunk tanker, remained unfound. In fact, there had been no attempts to retrieve their bodies.
Sources said the area where the tanker went down, that is, South West of the Bonga Floating Production Supply and Off-loading Facility (FPSO) near Warri in Delta is shark-infested and that the bodies might have been eaten up by sharks.
Documents obtained from the company identified the survivors as: Moses Apobowei, Sambo M and Magaji Joshua, all Nigerians.
The missing eight crew members comprising seven Nigerians and a Ghanaian are: Kulo Eddy Osang, Arerebo Arepade Clifford, Fynecountry Timipouadeh, Akindele Akinbanjo, Emmanuel Onozode, Odafe E. Offeh and Salami Malcolm. Isaac Kojo Money.
While, the ship owner is crying foul, the deceased family members maintained that the crewmen have not been declared dead. Capt Thomas Kemewerigha, the immediate past President of Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers Senior Staff Association, who lost a relation to the accident, blamed NIMASA.
Another relation of one of the dead crewmen; Imade Salami; Malcolm Salami, said the family is still in shock. He disclosed that his brother left a wife and two children.
However, the Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association has said that it is incompetent to take any action on behalf of the missing seafarers because they are unknown to the union. But it insisted that NIMASA should search for the missing crew and hand over their remains to their respective families.
Secretary General of the Union, Comrade Julius Efokpor in an exclusive chat with Shipping Position Daily on Friday, urged the owners of ill-fated MT Tank to further insist for the corpses to be found, adding that it is the last tribute the family can give to the deceased seafarers.
Efokpor pointed out that Nigerian tradition demands that the remains of the crew must be properly buried, as a mark of respect.
He added that the union cannot ascertain if the missing seafarers are ratings or senior officers.
The union’s scribe however noted that, "from our perspective, I don't think they are members of our union, maybe they are ratings, which means that they are junior staff and if there are senior staff on board, then those ones are expected to be our members, but unfortunately, from our records we don't even know them".
"The company is duty-bound to insist that the remains be recovered because in our culture in Nigeria, the family will like to see the body and bury it as a mark of respect", he maintained.
The union scribe however expressed dissatisfaction with how NIMASA handled the matter between MT Tank and MT Elixir; he said the death of the crew members can be best described as manslaughter.
But, last week, NIMASA insisted that it is still investigating the MT Tank and MT Elixir accident.
The agency also said that it had started working on the liability resulting from the collision.
Mr Calistus Obi, NIMASA’s Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos last Thursday.
He explained that: “When an accident particularly an international sea-going vessel is involved in accident, there are basic fundamental procedures and rules that must be followed based on IMO (International Maritime Organisation) position.
“So all of that NIMASA did before they allowed the vessel to sail but that has not stopped anything from being done as relates to the claims of all the parties involved.
“Unfortunately people died; so what we will be talking about is the extent of liability of the vessel that was the cause of the accident.
“So, it is all about investigation and you do not keep a vessel while you are investigating because the maritime authority of the country involved, where the vessel was registered has undertaken.
“So, at the end of it all, somebody must be held responsible for it.
“The vessel owner must bear responsibility for it.
“Of course, we have allowed them to sail because it has not in any way impeded NIMASA’s role in all of that. “
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