The 26 crew members were taken on a Nigerian ship and will stand on trial in Nigeria.
The Heroic Idun oil vessel that was impounded by the Equatorial Guinea Navy was handed over to the Nigerian Navy on Friday, November 11. The custody of 26 crew members including 16 Indians, 8 Sri Lankans along with one each from Poland and Philippines was also handed over to the Nigerian Navy. The crew will reportedly be tried for oil theft in Nigeria.
Family members of the crew told TNM that they lost contact with them after 3.30 am on November 11. “A message came from him around 3.30 am saying that they are being shifted to Nigeria. Since then there has been no contact. Phone is off, we haven’t received any updates,” Vijith’s father Trivikraman Nair said. Vijith, who hails from Kerala, is one of the crew members detained since August 14 in Equatorial Guinea.
The Heroic Idun ship was impounded by Equatorial Guinea on August 14 after a request from the Nigerian Navy on the suspicion of breaking maritime law and illegally entering the nation’s territorial waters. Nigeria alleged that the ship had not stopped for checks by a naval vessel.
Heroic Idun meanwhile maintains that an unidentified ship stopped them in Nigerian waters but since it did not have any identification they assumed it was a pirate ship and did not stop. When they went ahead and entered Equatorial Guinea, they were detained on August 14. The crew were detained for weeks at the Malabo detention center near the port.
