An oil supertanker accused by Nigerian authorities of attempting to illegally load crude before leaving its territorial waters is on its way back to the country, a Nigerian Navy spokesman told Reuters.

An oil supertanker accused by Nigerian authorities of attempting to illegally load crude before leaving its territorial waters is on its way back to the country, a Nigerian Navy spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

Authorities detained the Heroic Idun, a vessel capable of carrying 2 million barrels of oil, on Aug. 17 for sailing without an identifying flag, fleeing from the Nigerian navy and sailing in Equatorial Guinean waters without prior authorization. Nigerian officials said Messrs. Idun Maritime Ltd, a Marshall Islands-based company, owned the vessel. Reuters was unable to reach Idun Martime.

Nigerian Navy spokesman Commodore Kayode Ayo-Vaughan told Reuters that two Nigerian naval vessels had begun escorting the ship back to Nigeria on Friday afternoon.Refinitiv vessel tracking on Friday showed the ship’s destination as Bonny, Nigeria.
Source: Reuters