The Nigerian Navy Ship Beecroft, which was on Operation Delta Sanity, intercepted a vessel named SWEET MIRI today, which was suspected to be involved in crude oil theft. The vessel had 13 crew members, one of which was from Ghana and the rest were Nigerians.
While briefing the press onboard the intercepted vessel, Rear Admiral MB Hassan, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) of Western Naval Command, stated that the Nigerian Navy had been monitoring the vessel as it was suspected of crude oil theft. On the 25th of February 2024, the vessel turned off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) to avoid detection. It was arrested 174 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria, which is approximately 320 kilometers, on its way to Benin Republic.
The Nigerian Navy Ship ABA was deployed to investigate the vessel, and subsequently, it was found carrying products suspected to be crude oil. The search was doubled up by deploying NNS SOKOTO to interdict the vessel. On arrival, it was discovered that the vessel was carrying about 2 million litres of the suspected product without approval.
In line with the directive of Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral EI Ogalla, the ship was opened for other agencies to come and take samples and carry out their independent investigations to determine the culpability of the vessel.