The Nigerian Navy has impounded a vessel, MT TIS IV, over crude oil theft in Bayelsa State.
The Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship Soroh, Commodore Patrick Effah, said on Monday that the vessel was intercepted on December 6 with 4,402 barrels of illegally-sourced crude oil around the Akassa River in the state.
Effah said, “The vessel was found to be carrying about 700,000 litres which is about 603 metric tons or 4,402 barrels of illegally-sourced crude oil worth about $315,500 (N148,281,000) without the requisite approval for such cargo.
“I must add that the Navy went further to identify the source of the stolen crude and was led to the spot where about four dugout pits containing unspecified quantity of crude oil was discovered, which is much more than what was found on the vessel.â€
According to him, the discovered storage pits had been reported to relevant oil and gas authorities.
He said the seizure of the vessel was among a series of recent successful operations of the Nigerian Navy, warning economic saboteurs to desist from crime.
Effah noted that the Navy’s maritime domain awareness facilities were well equipped to detect and flag vessels engaged in all forms of maritime crimes on Nigerian waters and beyond.
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