MT KQLI

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Latest news

Forfeiture of tankers secured

The office of the Inspector General of Police has secured the forfeiture of the 'Harbor Spirit' and 'Kali', which were arrested for illegal oil bunkering. The 'Kali' was arrested with 20 crew and accomplices from the communities while siphoning illegal crude oil in Bayelsa State. The combined team of Tantita operatives and the Navy arrested the 'Harbor Spirit' on Feb 4, 2024 while the arrest of MT Kali was ongoing. The IGP’s office obtained the forfeiture order from the Federal High Court and also ordered the forfeiture of the contents of the tankers to the Federal Government. The judge also ordered the sale of the stolen crude oil by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The Justice further directed that the proceeds from the sale be deposited by NNPCL in an interest-yielding account to be determined by the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court.

Eight people unmasked as sponsors of tanker impunded for illegally siphoning oil

The Nigeria Police have unmasked three Indians and five Nigerians as sponsors of the 'Kali', which was impounded for illegally siphoning crude oil from the platform of the Anglo-Dutch Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), in Bayelsa State. Similarly, the police have arrested a popular Lagos-based oil and gas magnate as the alleged owner and sponsor of the 'Harbor Spirit', which was also arrested siphoning crude oil illegally from Sengana oilfields in the coastal axis of Bayelsa State on Feb 4, 2024. The oil merchant, whose office is located in Ikeja, Lagos Sate, was arrested on Feb 19 as he honoured the invitation of the police investigating the operations of the illegal bunkering ship. He was promptly taken to Abuja on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police, and has since been kept in custody as police detectives tried to establish his culpability in the shady oil deals. The Indians, who are members of the management team of a major oil company operating in Kwale axis of Delta State, were yet to honour the police invitation. Their emissaries, identified as retired naval rear admiral and captain, as well as a retired assistant superintendent of police who came to represent the foreign nationals, claimed that the Indians were out of the country. The police e insisted that the Indian suspects must honour the invitation personally upon their return to the country. Findings by the police revealed that the Indians and Nigerians were the promoters of Deep Frontline Shippers Ltd., which allegedly procured the 'Kali' for the illegal assignment. The Indians. The tanker was impounded by the joint team of a private security company, Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSL), and the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) while siphoning crude oil from Pennington oil fields of SPDC in Bayelsa State, on Jan 11. 23 suspects, made up of 12 crew members and 11 host community boys offering operational support to the crew to successfully carry out the nefarious assignment in their areas, were apprehended in the manhunt by TSSL and NSCDC operatives. The 'Kali' was actually registered in the name of Frontline Shippers Ltd., as against the initial fake name, Sasna Global and Sasna Global Resources Ltd. given by the captain of the ship. The police were able to establish, with the assistance of the Nigeria Maritime and Safety Administration Agency (NIMASA), that the vessel was deleted from the Nigerian maritime networks since Feb 1, 2022 and that it had no valid permit to sail on Nigerian waters without a valid certificate of registry and applicable trading certificates.The Indians, who were captured in the CAC records of Deep Frontline Shippers Ltd., were in charge of the finance of the company and are also associated with 150 other corporate entities, including an oil company operating in Kwale axis of Delta State. Full report:

Tanker arrested for oil smuggle

The Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd (TSSNL), in collaboration with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), arrested the 'Kali', which was allegedly transporting illegal crude oil from the offshore Sokebolou Field base in the Bayelsa State in pos. 04 38 12 N, 005 29 27 E, and which was intercepted on Jan 11, 2024, at 12.30 a.m. by a combined team of personnel of a private surveillance security provider, Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSL), operated by a former militant commander in the Niger Delta, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at Pennington oil field belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The tanker was mobilized from Apapa-Lagos to load crude oil illegally from offshore locations in Bayelsa State. Following the interception, the vessel was escorted to an NNPCL anchorage in Oporoza, Warri Southwest Delta State, and moored in pos. 05 35 50 N, 005 17 48 E for further investigations. The captain has revealed that 119 tonnes of crude oil had been pumped onto the vessel before its arrest. The police was scrutinising relevant documents aboard the vessel and profiling the crew during the visit. The captain of the vessel stated that the owner had lured the crew into the illicit deal on the pretense that they were heading for Bayelsa State to load a cargo of diesel. When they departed from Lagos, where the vessel had undergone maintenance for over a year, they were initially instructed to conduct a 10-mile trial of the engine. If satisfied, they were to proceed to the Bayelsa State to transport diesel back to Lagos. However, upon reaching the Pennington oil field, the situation changed, and he was still uncertain about the point at which the diesel transformed into crude oil. According to him, due to poor network in the areas, he could not contact the owner to tell him that the agent was loading crude oil instead of diesel onto the vessel.