Captain of impounded vessel claims ignorance of how crude got into his ship

The Captain of MT Kali, a vessel impounded by Tantita Security Services in Bayelsa State, Captain David Adeboye has said that he does not know how crude oil got into the ship.

Captain Adeboye revealed that he was mandated from Lagos to load Automative Gas Oil, AGO, (Diesel) in Bayelsa but cannot explain how the vessel was ladened with crude oil.

Adeboye spoke to journalists who were on tour of the impounded vessel at Oporoza, Delta State, adding that he was sent for the operation after a test-run of the vessel.

He said: “The boat had been in Lagos for more than a year for maintenance. So when we came out, we were instructed to test run the two engines for about 10 miles.

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“Afterwards, if we certify that it can go as far as Bayelsa, we should let them know.

“So after a test-run of two hours, I told them that one of the engines is not too good but we can manage it.

“So they gave us instruction that we should go to Bayelsa at Pennington bring back AGO.

“That was the instruction given to us and the agent who is supposed to connect us either to the ship. I don’t really know much.

“So, when I got there, I dropped anchor and spoke with the agent, who also confirmed even in his statement that it was AGO that was originally planned for us to load.

“Therefore, at which point it turned to be crude oil; that’s what I am battling to figure out.”

Speaking further, Adeboye narrated that the agent was the person who brought the boys that loaded the vessel with crude oil.

“It was the agent that brought the boys. So when I saw them, I said that is okay.

“I tried to reach the management but because of where we were, the network was not good”, he added.

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