JUST-IN; Tension In Nembe Creeks As Aggrieved Nigerians Demand NIMASA Probe Jobs Takeover By Foreign Nationals

Tension has enveloped Nembe Creeks in Bayelsa State following the alleged takeover of jobs from Nigerians by Ghanaian nationals; a move which the aggrieved Nigerian crew said was against the law.

The Nigerians in the area had written a petition tagged, “Unlawful Replacement Of Nigerian Crew With Ghanaians At Nembe Creek In Bayelsa State by Capt. Dash (Aiteo General Manager),” to the Executive Director of Operations, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), urging the agency to probe the alleged lawlessness currently going on.

According to the affected Nigerians, it was tragic that their jobs should be unceremoniously taken from them without an explanation and then given to foreigners.

The crew further stated in the petition: “We, the Nigerian crew, are willing to work, but the company does not require our services without reason, therefore we are requesting that our salaries be paid to the end of our contract and repatriation should be arranged for us to our respective homes before we can let the Ghanaians to board and then we can handover, but we are not happy to handover to Ghanaians in Nigeria water of NVC operation.”

Speaking on behalf of the crew of MV Galilean 14 working at Nembe creek in Bayelsa State, Engineer Johnbull Ajagbawa, said that over 100 jobs had been taken over by Ghanaian nationals.

Ajagbawa explained that Aiteo is the operator of Nembe Crude Oil Export Terminal Limited at Nembe creek in Bayelsa State and the vessels operating in the field, “are owned by Marine Assets and Offshore Supply Vessel which is operating from No. 13 Fourth Circular Road Cantonment, Accra, Ghana. According to him, “We the crew of Galilean 14 signed a six-month contract with Navias LLC Dubai on the 21st of April, 2023 and we boarded the vessel same day at Lagos anchorage.

“On the 29th of April, 2023, MV Galilean 14 de- parted Lagos anchorage in convoy with MT. FTM 21 and arrived Nembe Creek anchorage Bayelsa State on the 1st of May, 2023. “On arrival at Nembe Creek we met Galilean 21 and MT. FTM 22 already at Nembe Creek Anchorage.

MV Galilean 14 was at the Anchorage when MV. Galilean 35, MT. FTM 23, 24 and 25 arrived Nembe Creek Anchorage and Galilean 7 (VLCC) arrived Brass offshore respectively for operation. “The MV. Galilean 14, 21 and 35 are serving as utility vessels assisting in towing, escorting, mooring and unmooring of MT. (Motto Tanker) FTM 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 respectively with crude to and from FLB jetty and VLCC Galilean 7, running near coastal voyage operation.

“Since the arrival of Galilean 14 at Nembe Anchor- age, several crew changes have taken place onboard MT. FTM 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, MV Galilean 21 and VLCC Galilean 7 of which previous crew were foreigners without Ghanaians. All the crew change which took place onboard these vessels to replace the foreigners are all Ghanaians, Vietnams and other nationalities except for Nigerians which is against cabotage law.

“The only vessel with Nigerian crew is MV Gali- lean 14 and 35. MV Galilean 21 was the next vessel with complete Vietnamese crew which was supposed to be manned with Nigerian crew. “The Nigerians boarded the vessel on 5th June, 2023 and they were asked to disembark the next day, June 6, 2023 and to rejoin the vessel pending when the Vietnamese disembark, only the Master and Ch. Engineer were left onboard for proper handover.

“On the 10th of June 2023, the Nigerian Master and Chief Engineer were also asked to disembark and board pending when the Vietnamese disembark, only for the Nigerians to be replaced with Ghanaians after disembarking the Vietnamese. The Nigerian crew was sent home without pay after their services for these days including the Master and Chief Engineer.