Tag: Nigerian Navy

Navy, NIMASA seek deeper collaboration on hydrography, wreck-removal

Aminu Imam
Navy, NIMASA

The Nigerian Navy has called for enhanced partnership with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), in hydrographic operations to sustain improved safety of navigation in Nigerian waters. In a statement issued yesterday by the Deputy Director/Head, Public Relations, NIMASA, Osagie Edward, the call was made by the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command (FOC-WNC), Rear-Admiral Abdullahi Mustapha, during a familiarisation visit to the Agency’s Headquarters in Lagos, where he commended the gains recorded from the agency’s longstanding partnership with the Nigerian Navy. Mustapha noted that the collaboration between…

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Crude Production: Navy targets 2m bpd before Dec. 31

Aminu Imam
Navy targets oil production

The Nigerian Navy Ship, ‘NNS Pathfinder, has expressed optimism that the two million barrels per day (bpd) crude oil production target of the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited, (NNPCL), can be achieved before the end of 2024. The Commander, NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Cajethan Aniaku, said judging from the results achieved so far from its personnel, achieving the target may not be far-fetched. Commodore Aniaku gave the assurance while addressing newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt, during its 4th Quarterly Road March.  He said, We are almost 100%, we are very efficient in…

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Controversy trails Navysissuance of bunkering license

Aminu Imam

Controversy is currently trailing the continuous issuance of bunkering permit by the Nigerian Navy, a development stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry have described as an aberration. Speaking to newsmen at the on-going Lagos International Maritime Week, General Manager, Planning of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Igbani Agwu, said that the Navy had to come to issuance of bunkering permit because the space had to be regulated because of the unwholesome activities being experienced in that sector. Agwu also said that the Navy had to come into the issuance of bunkering…

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Navy arrests vessel with stolen crude, fingers Tompolos Tantita security outfit

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Navy has said its personnel arrested a 77-metre-long Motor Tanker Vinnalaris 1 Lagos, engaged in illegal crude oil shipping. According to the Navy, on Thursday, the vessel had 17 crew members onboard at the time of arrest caught engaging in illegal siphoning of crude oil from one of the well heads at EBESAN oil field about seven nautical miles off the coast of Awoye riverine community in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State. A statement by the Navys spokesperson, Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, said the arrest of the vessel…

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‘Nigerias waters now secured for local, intl. trade’ Navy chief

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Navy says it has successfully secured the countrys territorial waters for local and international merchant ships to transport goods and services without fear of criminal attacks. Chief of Training and Operations, Nigeria Navy, Rear Adm. Zakariyya Muhammad, gave this indication to newsmen in Onne, Rivers, at the end of a four-day naval expedition, codenamed: Exercise Nchekwa Oshimiri 2023. The 4-day exercise, tagged: Chief of the Naval Staff 2023 Annual Sea Inspection, featured 13 warships, 88 patrol boats, two helicopters and 4,000 personnel. Muhammad said the Navy was able…

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Tompolos firm accuses Navy of shielding crude oil thieves on high seas

Aminu Imam

Says Navy arresting own personnel The management of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a Federal Government-contracted oil pipeline surveillance firm, has accused the Nigerian Navy of shielding some suspected oil thieves being pursued by its personnel. It alleged that the Navy arrested four of its personnel chasing the suspects on the high seas towards a naval base. This was contained in a statement issued by Tantita management and made available to journalists in Warri, Delta State on Saturday on the heels of the purported arrest of four surveillance personnel of…

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Navy to probe oil theft allegations, dismiss erring personnel Chief of Naval Staff

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Navy said it would investigate rather than gloss over allegations of military involvement in oil theft, saying any personnel found culpable would be dismissed and prosecuted. The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, said this while fielding questions from newsmen in Port Harcourt on Thursday evening, after a two-day tour of naval formations and facilities in Rivers State. Some of the places he visited were the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base, Bonny Island, Nigerian Navy Hydrographic School, Borikiri, Nigerian Naval Shipyard, Port Harcourt, Nigerian Navy Medical Centre,…

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‘Most crude oil theft occurs off-shore’ – Navy

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Navy has said the majority of crude oil theft in the country occurs in offshore facilities of oil companies. The Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Commodore Suleiman Ibrahim, made the claim during an interactive session with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. Ibrahim warned that the country will continue to lose huge revenue if it continues to pay attention only to illegal bunkering activities going on onshore. He expressed his regret that despite the directive of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, chairmen of…

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US Navy arrives in Nigerian waters to boost maritime security in Gulf of Guinea

Aminu Imam

The United States Coast Guard ship ‘Cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913)’ arrived at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard in Lagos, on Friday, for a scheduled port visit. Shortly after the ships arrival, Consul-General Will Stevens and Commander Andrew Pate, Mohawks Commanding Officer, met with Rear-Admiral Yakubu Wambai, the Flag Officer Commanding Nigerias Western Naval Command, to discuss the United States and Nigerias shared commitment to a safe and secure Gulf of Guinea. During the visit, the US Naval officers will meet with the Nigerian Navy leadership at the Western Navy Command Headquarters in…

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Oil Theft: Arrest of 3m barrel-capacity supertanker reflects scale of crisis

Aminu Imam

The arrest of a supertanker with a capacity for three million barrels of oil, about three times the 1 million barrels per day (bpd) currently being produced by Nigeria, clearly validates the widely-held suspicion that international collaborators are involved in siphoning the countrys oil wealth in connivance with a syndicate of thieves and high-level government officials. Recall that earlier in the week, there was a report on the arrest of the supertanker, MV HEROIC IDUN, by Equatorial Guinea forces over alleged crude oil theft in Nigeria. Industry observers pointed out…

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