…bemoan long detention of ships, seafarers
Experts and investors in the shipping industry, have called for a practical approach in dealing with the issues of drug discoveries on vessels without a huge revenue loss to the shipowners.
The shipping experts lamented that several shipowners had become bankrupt due to huge losses incurred in poor handling of cases of drug discovery onboard their vessels while calling at the ports.
According to the shipping stakeholders who converged at the Maritime Security Providers Association of Nigeria (MASPAN) and Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron (AMANO) Conference themed, “Drugs & Human Smuggling/Trafficking: The Evolving Maritime Security Threats To Ships Seafarers” in Lagos on Thursday, shipowners are losing millions of dollars to vessel delays, legal costs, crew salaries and additional costs incured on crews families during investigation of drug trafficking incidents.
Suresh Prabhakar, Director, Operations, Pacific Basin Shipping Limited, Hong Kong bemoaned incidences where agencies like the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) detains ship for long period of time, spends months on investigation, while at the end the crew are found not guilty.
He said: “From February 2021 to July 2024, there were 4 bulk carriers laden with Sugar from Santos, Brazil to Lagos where Cocaine of quantities varying from 18 to 43 kilograms were discovered on board each ship by the NDLEA.
“During the course of the investigations, each ship was delayed for between 4 to 6 months and allowed to sail after owners posted bonds ranging from $2 million to $5 million.
A panel of discussion at the summit on Drug trafficking
“On each ship about half the crew members, which is about 10 crew per ship were detained. The bail amount posted per crew member to allow them to reside in a hotel rather than in a detention facility was $40,000, which totals to $400,000 for 10 crew.
“On two ships, after multiple court hearings crew were released after being detained for about 20 months each. The other two ships’ crew are still under detention in Lagos whilst court hearings are ongoing. The crew have been in Lagos for 34 months and 13 months respectively.
“Such incidents cost ship owners huge amounts of money in lost revenue by way of vessel delays, legal costs, crew salaries, family upkeep and the like. Additionally, when crew members are subjected to such treatment, most responsible owners expend a lot of time and effort in trying to secure their release.”
He said cases such as these, adversely impact the ability of shipowners to engage in such trades and several owners and operators are forced to choose alternative trade routes.
Prabhakar appealed to relevant agencies of government, especially the NDLEA to always inform the shipowners once they are sure that the crew are involved in the drug trafficking incident. He maintained that the shipowners would be ready and willing to hand over the suspects to the authories, rather than have the ship detained with other innocent crew members detained, insisting that in 99.99% of the cases there is zero crew members involved.
“But unfortunately in some countries like here, the NDLEA have been detaining ships for long periods of time, crews for long periods of time and then they have sort of been put through a lot of mental and physical stress. And then many of them don’t want to come back to sea again as a career” he disclosed.
In his address, the MiMinisteof Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola who also doubles as the chairman of the event he bemoaned the troubling increase in maritime threat, particularly those related to drugs and human trafficking.
Oyetola, who was represented by Director Marine Environment Management, NIMASA, Mr. Heaky Dimowo, said “These activities are not merely criminal act, they erode our social fabric, destabilize communities and challenge our law enforcement at sea.
“Moreover, they pose significant risk to the Maritime and Security of seafarer and vessels. Today we must confront the fact that our waters are increasingly viewed as transit route to illicit activities.”
The minister maintained that it was essential that Nigeria developed comprehensive strategies to address these evolving threats by leveraging on technical innovations, enhancing intelligence capabilities and fostering collaboration among critical stakeholders.
“Together, we can develop multifaceted responses that effectively combat these challenges” he noted.
Eaelier, the President of MASPAN/AMANO, Mr Emmanuel Maiguwa, in his welcome address disclosed that records from the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) showed that West Africa is a transit region for narcotics mostly emanating from South America hence the need for the summit.
“With recent incidents involving merchant ships (excluding cases of drugs concealed in cargo containers) from South America to Nigeria rising to about four within the last two years, this maritime corridor proves to be providing mobility for this illicit activity.
“On the issue of human trafficking, records from Africa Risk Compliance (ARC) show a significant number of incidents where stowaways have been discovered on ships calling Nigerian ports” he stated.
Continuing, Maiguwa disclosed that while we may not present specific records linking stowaways to drug smuggling operations, it is of great concern that drug traffickers could potentially collaborate with stowaway networks. This partnership could lead to a coordinated effort to use stowaways as couriers, moving drugs from West Africa to Europe.
“Both MASPAN and AMANO express strong support for the fight against all forms of trafficking and smuggling, including Drugs and humans; we are mainly focused on addressing responses to these crimes as they occur within the maritime corridor.
“We aim to ensure that perpetrators of these crimes are apprehended and fully punished of the law without subjecting the innocent to unnecessary difficulties that are counterproductive to the growth of shipping” he added.
