After officials claimed that their supertanker was illegally entering Nigerian waters, the court filed charges against the guys.
According to court documents, the crew is made up of people from Pakistan, Pakistan, Poland, India, and Sri Lanka. The captain is an Indian national.
The Heroic Idun, a ship with a capacity for 2 million barrels of oil, was captured by Equatorial Guinea on August 17 at the request of Nigerian authorities for sailing without an identification flag, evading the Nigerian navy, and travelling in Equatorial Guinean waters without permission.
The judge ordered the 26 men—including the captain—to be held on their ship under the protection of the Nigerian navy after the men’s Monday and Tuesday court appearances in Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria’s Rivers state.
Allegations against the individuals, who all denied them, included their “effort to deal with crude oil within the Nigeria Exclusive Economic Zone without legislative authorisation.”
Nigeria claimed the ship made a false report of a piracy attack, entered a restricted area without permission, and attempted to load crude oil illegally. However, Nigeria claimed the ship had not carried any oil before the navy approached it.
Over 400,000 barrels per day of Nigeria’s oil production are lost due to oil theft.
