Twenty days after eight Nigerian seafarers were declared missing after a marine accident involving a Nigerian ship MT Tank and Martial Islands-flagged tanker, MT Elixir, the seamen remain unaccounted for by Nigerian authorities, DGossip247 reports
This will go down as Nigeria’s most tragic marine accident in 2015 with one recorded death and eight still missing. This is 20 days after the tragic incident which sank a Nigerian tanker, MT Tank (a self propelled barge) at Bonga Terminal near Warri in Delta State. Bereaved families of the crew members and the three wounded sailors now look up to God for solace as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, in their reckoning has abdicated its responsibility of defending the interest of Nigerian seafarers.
They are aghast at the fact that it was obvious that the Nigerian vessel was stationary when the bigger tanker ran into her, sinking it in the process. With the bodies of the missing sailors not found 20 days after the incident, their relatives have lost hope of ever seeing them alive despite earlier assurances from NIMASA.
Mrs. Ethelbert Osang is a mother of three and the wife of one of the missing sailors, Mr. Eddy Kulo Osang. She expressed doubts that her husband could still be pulled out alive from the depth of water after such a long time. But she says his family deserves to have his corpse for a decent burial. However, there is no indication of any form of search going on.
“I am not talking of what my children will eat. The money left behind for the family’s upkeep has finished. My husband did not anticipate that he would be staying away for that long at sea. He told me that they were coming back to Onne in Port Harcourt.
“He loved his children so much and the children were fond of him. There is no way he can be alive for 20 days without hearing from his kids and he can remain there comfortably. The children have not allowed me to rest in the last three weeks; they want to know where their daddy is.
I am tired of giving them one explanation or the other,” she lamented. She called on the Federal Government to intervene and compel NIMASA to ensure that the missing sailors are found dead or alive. “Government should also ensure that the families of the victims of the accident are compensated,” she stated.
She said Twinstomp Energy Limited, the owners of MT Tank, the vessel her husband was working for before the accident, “are lamenting that they have lost their ship and are not doing anything again from which they can earn money. If the fate of the families of the victims hangs on Twinstomp Energy Limited, that means that we are on our own.”
Sources close to the management of NIMASA said excerpt a Remote Operated Vessel (ROV) and special diving which requires the highest form of expertise with a mixture of gases is used to trace the missing sailors, it will be difficult and almost impossible to go searching for the bodies of the eight seamen at 1500 meters depth. Experts say no diver can reach that depth except with the aid of devices that will not only ensure safety but with the right mix of gases for breathing.
Mleka Olive Institute, a local firm of divers, told Sunday Telegraph that they were contacted by NIMASA. One of its officials said the agency does not have divers or requsite equipment. The official said they recommended the use of ROW that can bring up the wreckage and search for the bodies.
The official, who was privy to the meeting between NIMASA and Mieka, said that a South African company contacted for the deployment of ROW said it would charge $75,000 per day for the five-day job. A total of $375,000 is required for the recovery of the wreckage and the search for the victims.
Deputy Director and Head, Public Relations, NIMASA, Ms. Lami Tumaka, gave the assurance that the search for the missing sailors had not been called off.
She did not confirm whether the South African firm would be given the job. She reiterated the statement of the Director General, Haruna Jauro, two weeks earlier that the agency does not have the capacity to search for the missing crew members of the sank MT Tank.
Until recently, the Department of Maritime Safety & Shipping Development, headed by accomplished Master Mariner, Capt. Ezekiel Bala Agaba, was the main operational department of the agency. It was heavily funded to the tune of over N10 billion annually and was manned by technical experts recruited from different parts of the world. Sunday Telegraph learnt that those technical men, who were mainly of Ijaw extraction, were promoted above their peers by the administration of the former DG, Ziakede Akpobolokemi, in a bid to motivate them to work and achieve result.
Sunday Telegraph learnt that those officers are the target of the committee set up by the current management at NIMASA to correct the ‘abnormal’ promotion. Those men are the people who will go into the water because they know the terrain very well, according to a maritime lawyer, Mr. Sylvester Echenu.”This is a disincentive to get the best out from the technical men whom NIMASA depends on to earn its name.
Now that they know that they are about to be demoted, they will sit back like ordinary civil servants and wait for their superiors who actually do not have specialised maritime skills to take the initiatives,” he said. Meanwhile, Olumide Oyewole, solicitor to Twinstomp Energy Limited, owners of the ill-fated tankers vessel, MT Tank alleged that NIMASA released MT Elixir when investigation into the cause of the accident has not been concluded.
He added that talks between his clients and the lawyer of the Greek vessel had not been concluded. He said it was unfortunate that NIMASA allowed MT Elixir to sail out of the country without carrying out any search and rescue or investigations or paying compensation to the families of the dead crew members. “I was told that NIMASA had released the vessel.
They just concluded on their own that MT Elixir was not at fault, so those who died just died like that. No investigation was conducted,” he alleged. He said even though he and the lawyer of MT Elixir were in open negotiation, no conclusion was reached on compensation to the families of the crew members.
“We are in an open discussion with the lawyers of MT Elixir and we have not reached any level whatsoever,” he said Jauro had, at a news conference two weeks ago, said the agency was investigating the cause of the accident. He said that in the meantime, it would detain MT Elixir until search and rescue and necessary investigations were concluded.
Tumaka, confirmed that the MT Elixir was released last Thursday. She said that NIMASA had done the needful before allowing the ship to sail out of the country “Nigerian Maritime Administration and safety Agency extracted a written undertaking from the owners of MT Elixir, the Martial Islands flagged-vessel that was involved in a marine collision with MT Tank where eight crew members or material that is needed in the future to conclude the investigation.”
“As a member of the International Maritime Organisation, Nigeria has ratified all the applicable IMO Conventions relating to incidents of this nature. The IMO regulation 1/21 makes it mandatory for Flag States to investigate any marine accident as per IMO resolution A 849 and submit findings of such accidents to the IMO.
“The purpose of these investigations by Flag administrations like NIMASA is not to undermine liability or apportion blame, but to establish what happened and why it happened so that casual factors are fully understood and action taken to prevent a reoccurrence. The report when concluded will also be sent to a Marine Board of Enquiry that will further investigate the matter and recommend applicable sanctions for the erring party.”
She confirmed that the ship was detained for 15 days “Having detained MT Elixir for 15 days and collected all the relevant information, statements, interviews, records and key items/ equipments foe the investigation including the video data Recorder, it is incumbent on the agency to release MT Elixir bearing in mind that she is a foreign. It is worth restating that the investigation being carried out by the Flag administration is in line with IMO Resolution 840,” she declared.
A member of one of the families of the missing sailors, Mr. Elija Akinbajo, told Sunday Telegraph that the families of the 12 crew members of the ill-fated MT Tank had given power of attorney to human rights Lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba. He said the families of the 12 crew members of the MT Tank agreed that Agbakoba should also represent their interest in addition to his earlier brief as lead counsel for Twinstop Energy Limited, owners of MT Tank.
