Stolen Crude Oil Missing

FLASHBACK! The arrested pirates.

A total of 1,500 tons of crude oil which was onboard MT Miriam, the oil tanker hijacked by the eight armed Nigerian suspected pirates recently, was reported missing when the suspects were arrested.

The suspects, who are under investigation by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) after they were apprehended by the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), were reported to have offloaded the oil into another tanker on the high seas which was then taken away by other members of the syndicate. They were said to be tightlipped concerning the whereabouts of the crude oil which was being transported from Nigeria but was hijacked by the suspects and drifted to Ghana's territorial waters, where they were arrested by the Ghana Navy.

Sources at the Ghana Navy told DAILY GUIDE that when the Ghana Navy got onboard the vessel, the oil had already been offloaded, adding that the pirates hijacked the vessel on January 11, 2015 and spent a couple of days on it before they were accosted on January 17, 2015.

'They had enough time to do whatever they wanted to do with the vessel…,' a source said, adding that it was believed that there were other pirates yet to be arrested.

The pirates earlier told the owner of the vessel in a telephone conversation, after they took charge of the oil tanker, that they were going to use the vessel for further business after which the vessel would be returned to him.

They allegedly told the owner to exercise restraint or pay a ransom for the vessel to be released to him. However, the owner decided to report the matter to the Benin, Togo and Ghana Navies, leading to the arrest of the pirates by the Ghana Navy.

The arrested pirates are believed to be part of a syndicate, some of whom made away with the fuel while the others waited.

The source said the speed boat the pirates used in attacking the nine-member crew on the oil tanker was yet to be found.

It is believed that the oil was taken to a secret meeting place around a place called the Togo Triangle, located somewhere near the Niger Delta.

At such a location, the oil will possibly be sold.
Nigerian pirates, it will be recalled, were said to have hijacked the oil tanker which was carrying about 1, 500 tons of crude oil from Nigeria when it was capture on Nigerian waters before being drifted into Ghana territorial waters about 26 nautical miles offshore in Tema.

The Ghana Navy retrieved sophisticated weapons and other items including 300 live rounds of 10 loaded magazines, four AK 47 rifles, a pump-action gun, three hand-held VHF radios, 10 digital cameras, 18 mobile phones, 43,850 Naira and $1,270 from the pirates.

MT Miriam has since been under armed guard anchorage at the berth four of the Tema Port.

FROM Vincent Kubi, Tema