A crude tanker seized by authorities in west Africa earlier this month remains under arrest in Equatorial Guinea.
The Heroic Idun was seized by the Equatorial Guinean Navy on 12 August after sailing out of Nigerian waters four days earlier following a dispute with the Nigerian Navy over whether it was authorised to load a crude cargo from Nigeria's Akpo floating production storage and offloading (FSPO) vessel. The tanker is being detained in the port of Luba pending the outcome of investigations. It is on long-term charter to Mercuria, making the trading company the de facto owner in the current situation.
The Heroic Idun arrived at Akpo on 7 August. It was scheduled to load a crude cargo that was sold by Shell to BP on a fob basis. BP said it had chartered the tanker on a single voyage basis. Following the seizure, BP secured a replacement ship for the cargo.
The Nigerian Navy said it was told by state-owned oil firm NNPC that the Heroic Idun was not cleared to be at the Akpo field. The patrol ship NNS Gongola was then sent to investigate, "asking critical questions including her mission and approval status to enter [the] Akpo field," the navy said. "The captain of the vessel duly responded to the questions and further stated that the Heroic Idun was without relevant clearance ... the vessel was ordered to turn around and follow the NNS Gongola," it added.
Details of what happened next remain sketchy, but according to the Nigerian Navy the captain of the Heroic Idun communicated with the shipping agent, refused to co-operate, filed "a false piracy report" and then sailed at full speed for nearby Sao Tome and Principe. It was later intercepted and escorted to Luba in Equatorial Guinea.
Mercuria and the Nigerian Navy have both stressed that at no point did the Heroic Idun load any crude.
