Handed Over To Ghana For Further Investigation

AS NIMASA/NAVY Collaboration Waxes Stonger

Dr. Bashir Jamoh, Director General, NIMASA

Following strengthened inter-Agency collaborations in Nigeria and renewed commitment by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA,  the Nigerian Government has handed over a fishing vessel Marine 707 suspected to be carrying out illegal activities in the Gulf of Guinea to the Ghanaian authorities for further investigation and possible prosecution alongside it 51 crew members which include 48 Ghanaians and 3 South Korean nationals to the Government of Ghana and Korea respectively.

L/R: The Consular General, Republic of Korea, Mr. Kim Ln-Taek, Commander Maritime Guard Command, NIMASA, Commodore Aniette Ibok, the Second Secretary Consular of the Ghana High Commission, Mr. David Ako Sowah, Head Maritime Survey Unit of NIMASA, Engr. Olu Aladenusi and Mr. Paul Opuma of the Federal Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture during the official handover of suspected vessel Marine 707 and 51 crew members to their respective authorities in Lagos.

The vessel which had authorization to fish in Ghana and Benin waters was arrested by the Nigerian Navy on the 18th of May, 2020 around the southwest of Lagos waters with her Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off after being suspected to be used for piracy or being used as a mothership to conduct piracy in the Gulf of Guinea was handed over to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) after preliminary investigations by the Navy.

While speaking during the official hand over of the Ghanaian flagged vessel and the crew to the respective authorities, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr Bashir Jamoh said that the Navy-NIMASA partnership which is now hinged on intelligence sharing has put Nigeria in a better position of winning the war against piracy and other illegal acts at sea.

Jamoh who was represented by the agency’s Commander, Maritime Guard Command, Commodore Aniete Ibok disclosed that though preliminary investigations could not establish that the vessel and her crew was directly linked to piracy, however the vessel still ran afoul of international laws for shutting down its Automatic Identification System (AIS) 36 times in the last 6 months, 3 of which were done in the Nigerian waters.

The Suspected Vessel

According to him “we are handing over this vessel to the Ghanaian authorities in the spirit of bilateral cooperation enjoyed by both countries. We have done our preliminary investigations and we have found nothing against the vessel but we would not know what she would be doing whenever she turns off her AIS which occurred 36 times without being logged in her record book in line with international protocols and three of these were in our domain. However in the spirit of the brotherhood that Ghana and Nigeria enjoy we are handing over the vessel to Ghana for further investigations”

The NIMASA DG further warned that individuals or organizations thinking of perpetrating any form of illegalities in the Gulf of Guinea should be ready to face the full wrath of the law, especially with the Antipiracy Law now in place along with the NAVY-NIMASA partnership that is waxing stronger with a major focus on security in the Nigerian maritime domain and the entire Gulf of Guinea.

“We will not condone any act of illegalities in our maritime space; we have improved our intelligence sharing with relevant Agencies and with what we are doing now, in no distant time piracy will be a thing of the past in the Gulf of Guinea because we have a robust antipiracy law that will deal with perpetrators of illegalities in our waters”

While receiving the vessel and the crew on behalf of the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Second Secretary Consular of Ghana in Nigeria, David Ako Sowah commended the Nigerian authorities for being professional in handling the case. He said what Nigeria is doing was for the benefit of the entire countries in the Gulf Guinea.

According to him “As the big brother in this region, Nigeria has done well in showing a lot of maturity in handling this case and I want to assure you that Ghana would also look in to more collaborations with Nigeria to ensure that the Gulf of Guinea remains safe for maritime activities”.

The Consular General of the Republic of Korea in Nigeria Kim In-Taek, commended the parties involved in handling the case. He said his findings from the Captain of the ship who is a Korean inform that the ‘AIS’ was bad. He noted that the vessel and her crew erred by not following the protocols of logging it in the record books when the AIS was down but he was happy that the case has been resolved up till this point.

The Ghana flagged vessel with International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) number 7419755 and registration number 316880 is owned and operated by World Marine Company Limited, Japan and as at the time of arrest it had 51 crew on board with all being Ghanaians except 3 who are from the Republic of Korea.

This case also brings to the fore the efforts by NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy in the battle against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

It would be recalled that the Navy in collaboration with NIMASA recently arrested 10 pirates on a Chinese fishing vessel and handed them over for prosecution under the newly signed anti-piracy law.