Over 130 vessels have been arrested for various maritime infractions by the Nigerian Navy (NN) since 2017, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas said on Thursday.
Admiral Ibas spoke at the inaugural International Maritime Def ence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEC) held in Accra, Ghana to mark the Ghanaian Navy’s 60th anniversary.
Delivering a paper titled “highlight of the NN operations and projections for advancing information sharing towards overcoming criminality at sea, he said the navy was able to conduct round the clock surveillance of Nigeria’s maritime space using the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) and the Falcon Eye (FE) facilities in addition to surface vessels and helicopters.
Quoting statistics from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), Ibas said increased information sharing between the NN and other agencies contributed to a 50 per cent reduction of acts of piracy within the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) between the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.
He advocated for more sustained presence at sea and increasing exchange of critical information between regional partners, stakeholders for the security of the maritime domain, adding that improved database on arrested and convicted maritime crimes would help the region curb current practice by criminals to move from one jurisdiction to the other to continue their criminality unnoticed.
The CNS said the NN has initiated various operations and programmes geared towards creating a safe and secured space for maritime commerce to thrive.
“These initiatives are categorised into independent NN operations as well as collaborative operations with other stakeholders within Nigeria and beyond her borders. Considering the wide expanse of the maritime domain and the frequently mutating and transnational nature of maritime crimes, the NN has had to exploit available Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) infrastructure to enhance her operational efficiency towards curtailing criminality within the GoG.
“The MDA infrastructure is also critical to our collective efforts, particularly as it relates to information sharing…”
Using Operations TSARE TEKU and RIVER SWEEP as examples of NN independent engagements to check piracy and oil theft respectively, the CNS said there has been successive decline in reported cases of pirate/sea robbery attacks within Nigeria’s maritime domain; while the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has attested to the successes of Op RIVER SWEEP, confirming huge savings for the nation due to massive reductions in pipeline losses between 2015 and 2018.
“The operation has also contributed to significant improvement in shipping into Nigeria’s maritime environment as attested to by Nigerian Shippers.The anti-COT and illegal refining operations also incorporated the Choke Point Management and Control Regime involving the deployment of armed personnel in houseboats designated at strategic chokepoint within the creeks. Patrol boats attached to the stations serve as counter theft responses to prevent any stolen crude from being taken away in ships or barges.
“Apart from these two specifically designed operations, the NN continue to conduct policing patrols across the nation’s EEZ and territorial waters employing the advantage of its MDA infrastructure to coordinate and direct the pattern of patrols. The service is thus able to conduct round the clock surveillance of Nigeria’s maritime space using the Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) and the Falcon Eye (FE) facilities in addition to surface vessels and helicopters.
“These facilities ensure effective electronic tracking of vessels within our maritime environment whether fitted with Automatic Identification System (AIS) or not. The systems also serve as force multipliers, as NN patrols are more mission oriented with attendant reduction in operational logistic cost. Following the historic tracking and arrest of the hijackers of a tanker MT MAXIMUS by the NN at the fringes of Sao Tome and Principe in 2016, the service has continued to achieve several successes using the MDA systems.
“For instance, the FE Systems were used to vector NNS UNITY to arrest MV NESO II in October 2018 while NNS NGURU and EKULU were vectored to arrest MV HAWA and AKEMIJOE DEBORAH respectively as well as several others, in 2019. All these vessels were arrested on suspicion of committing infractions within Nigerian waters.
“To further enhance NN surveillance and MDA network, the service recently signed an MoU on white shipping with the Indian Navy and has applied to join the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in addition to the Italian based Trans-Regional Maritime Network, which she joined in 2015. The NN also participated in the establishment of a mechanism for sharing maritime information with regional navies and maritime regulatory agencies at the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre here in Ghana.
“These strategic partnerships have the potential to further increase NN domain awareness across both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with positive impact on surveillance capacity to facilitate NN policing duties. To consolidate the gains of the MDA project, the NN in collaboration with the US Government recently established a Regional MDA Training School for joint training of personnel of the NN and other navies of the GoG. This is with a view to steadily improve capacity for gathering and sharing of vital information to enhance collective response to security challenges at sea.
“To enhance maritime operations, the NN engages regularly with various stakeholders. In particular, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Customs, Immigration, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been most supportive in this regard.
“These engagements foster a shared vision on the accomplishment of maritime security tasks and information sharing leading to the successful arrest and prosecution of several cases. One positive outcome of such consultation is the launch of the Harmonised Standard Operating Procedures (HSOP) on Arrest, Detention and Prosecution of Vessels and Persons (HSOP AD&P) in Nigeria’s Maritime Environment in January 2017. Further to the launch, the NN constantly engages directly with each agency on modalities for implementation, resulting in the arrest of over 130 vessels within the past two years.
(NATION)