Alleged Oil Theft: MT Praisel Obtained Approval To Load – Navy

The Nigerian Navy has said Motor Tanker (MT) Praisel was duly approved by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to load 1,114,721 litres of high pour fuel oil (HPFO) from Greenmac Energy Storage/Tarus Jetty Koko from 26 July – 8 August 2023.

The Director Information Naval Headquarters, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, stated this in a statement while reacting to media reports on alleged oil theft by the vessel with the connivance of Nigerian Navy personnel.

He said contrary to reports, the Nigerian Navy in line with standard operating procedure to ensure strict deployed personnel onboard to monitor the discharge of the product by MT PRAISEL at a facility at Bonny.

“To put the records straight and avoid the misrepresentation of facts to unsuspecting members of the public as portrayed, MT PRAISEL was duly approved by Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to load 1,114,721 Litres of High Pour Fuel Oil (HPFO) from Greenmac Energy Storage/Tarus Jetty Koko from 26 July – 8 August 2023. This has been substantiated by NMDPRA.

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“In line with Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and to ensure strict compliance with the NMDPRA approval, NN personnel were deployed onboard to monitor the discharge of the product by MT PRAISEL at a facility at Bonny”.

Commodore Ayo-Vaughan explained that despite the approval, operatives of a private security firm Tantita Security Services Ltd on 2 August 2023, “claiming to act on intelligence alleged that the vessel was laden with stolen crude oil”  approached an element of Operation DELTA SAFE to board the vessel in order to verify the alleged stolen product.

“Accordingly, the NN directed the vessel to Forward Operating Base ESCRAVOS anchorage for further investigation of the product onboard”.

The director said the samples of the product onboard MT PRAISEL were collected on Thursday 3 August 2023 by five agencies including NNPCL, NMDPRA and also TSSL in line with laid procedures for laboratory test and verification of the claim.

He restated that Navy being the lead agency in the fight against maritime crimes, had always been on the vanguard of supporting every effort to halt economic saboteurs.