Sixteen crew members from India associated with a cargo vessel dubbed MT Heroic Idun, who had been in detention for more than nine months in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, have finally returned home.
To remind, 26 crew members of the cargo vessel, including 16 from India, had been detained since August 2022.
They were in detention in Equatorial Guinea and, later on, in Nigeria and were accused of several types of crimes, including oil theft.
After interventions with the Nigerian Government, the crew was allowed to remain on board the ship with the provision of regular food, instead of being taken to a detention centre on land.
They were also allowed periodic contact with their families. The Indian Mission worked with the shipping company for legal representation to be arranged for the crew.
As informed, the Nigerian authorities were informed that there had been no oil theft, necessary permissions had apparently been accorded and that the crew was not privy to the decisions of operations.