Court Jails Captain, Vessel In Lagos

Justice L.N. Oweibo of Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, July 9, 2020 convicted and sentenced Captain Peter Okomi to three years imprisonment. Also convicted and sentenced was his company, Moyitok Nigeria Ltd and a vessel, M.V. Agbeke, for illegal dealing in petroleum products.

The convicts were prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on three-count charges to which they pleaded guilty, following their arrest by officers of the Nigerian Navy and subsequent hand over to the EFCC for investigation and prosecution.

One of the charges read: “M.V. Agbeke, Moyitok Nigeria Limited, and Peter Okomi, on the 21st day of January, 2020, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, without appropriate license, dealt in 100 metric tonnes of Automative Gas Oil (AGO) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 3 (6) of the Miscellaneous Offence Act, Cap. M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria and punishable under Section 1 (17) of the same Act.”

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Source: prnigeria.com

Yemen Fishermen Ensnared in Diplomatic Spat

Mohammed Sayers

Disagreements over Red Sea islands and fishing rights once thought to have been settled with Eritrea flare anew

Nadeem Al-Rabas, 26, embarked on March 17 with a group of fellow Yemeni fishermen to work the country’s territorial waters, only to be arrested by the Eritrean coast guard. It was his second arrest at the hands of Eritrean authorities.

Rabas, who tells The Media Line he knows nothing other than fishing, says his mother suffered a heart attack when he was first arrested, in August 2017, by Eritrean military forces for what they said was a violation of Eritrean fishing laws.

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Source: themedialine.org

‘Arresting vessels at secured anchorage inimical to national security’

By Abdullateef Aliyu and Eugene Agha

The Nigerian Ports Authority has been asked to tread with caution in its engagement with the Ocean Marine Solution Limited (OMSL), the company supporting the Nigerian Navy to provide security at the Secure Anchorage Area (SAA) of the Lagos delineation of the nation’s waters.

He was reacting to the warning reportedly issued by the NPA to vessels against anchoring at the Secured Anchorage Area. The national chairman of New Nigeria Collective, Adeola Adewunmi, gave the caution in a statement on Thursday.

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Source: dailytrust.com.ng

Is it the End of the Road for India in the Enrica Lexie Incident?

Although the legal phase of the matter is over, the Indian government should continue to exercise diplomatic pressure on Italy.

Jay Manoj Sanklecha

The award of the ad-hoc arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), only the operative portions of which were publicly released last week, appears to have brought to an end, an eight year long tussle between New Delhi and Rome on the exercise of criminal jurisdiction over two Italian marines accused of manslaughter.

As many would remember, on February 15, 2012, two Italian marines Sgt. Massimiliano Latorre and Sgt. Salvatore Girone, deployed on board an oil tanker MV Enrica Lexie flying the Italian flag en route from Sri Lanka to Egypt, at roughly 20.5 nautical miles off the Indian coast, opened fire, killing two Indian fisherman on board an Indian vessel St. Antony after claiming to have mistaken them for pirates.

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Source: thewire.in

Italian Marines ‘entitled To Immunity’ In India Shooting: Tribunal

Sumaira FH

The Hague, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 2nd Jul, 2020 ) :Two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012 were entitled to immunity from prosecution, a tribunal ruled Thursday in a case that poisoned ties between the two countries.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague said it had decided by three votes to two “that the Marines are entitled to immunity in relation to the acts that they committed during the incident”.

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Source: urdupoint.com

Offshore Nigeria FPSO under attack from pirates

A group of unknown armed men have reportedly attacked the FPSO Sendje Berge, operating at the Okwori field offshore Nigeria.

LONDON – A group of unknown armed men have reportedly attacked the FPSO Sendje Berge, operating at the Okwori field offshore Nigeria.

According to maritime intelligence service Dryad Global, up to 11 personnel may have been kidnapped from the vessel.

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Source: offshore-mag.com

Pirates blow up Addax facility, abducts 10 workers

By Godwin Oritse

Pirates, yesterday, attacked Addax off-shore facility, operators of the OML 126, abducted 10 of its workers to an unknown location.

Confirming the development, Mr Emmanual Maiguwa, General Secretary, Maritime Security Providers Association of Nigeria, MASPAN, said he could not say much on the matter because details were still sketchy.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Five crew kidnapped by pirates from PIL cargoship offshore Benin

Marcus Hand

Five seafarers have been kidnapped by pirates from a Pacific International Lines (PIL) multipurpose vessel Kota Budi offshore Benin.

PIL confirmed that the Singapore-registered, 27,379 dwt Kota Budi had been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea on 2 July at 23-35hrs (local time). The shipowner said that five Chinese crew members, including the Master, had been taken and presumed kidnapped.

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Source: https://www.seatrade-maritime.com

NIMASA gets new initiatives to stem criminalities, boost revenue

Oluwakemi Dauda

The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, has set a new agenda for the nation’s apex maritime regulatory agency by embarking on new initiatives that will enable the agency carry out its core responsibilities, combat piracy and stem the cycle of criminalities on the nation’s territorial waters.

The NIMASA helmsman, it was learnt, has developed the Triple ‘S’, which is known as the NIMASA Performance Tripod (NPT), that reflects the agency’s composite of mandates as the regulator and harnesseser of the maritime domain.

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Source: thenationonlineng.net

NDLEA raises concern over rising drug trafficking by sea in W/Africa

By Godfrey Bivbere AS drug trafficking by sea increases globally, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has stressed the need for the Federal Government to strengthen the Agency to effectively combat the illicit drug trade.

This is even as the Agency indicated that there has been a rise in the volume of drug trafficking in the West African sub-region.

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Source: vanguardngr.com