Switzerland and Nigeria agreed to submit their dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the arrested tanker issue of San Padre Pio. Specifically, both parties shake their hands and came on a agreement for the submission on 3 December, as ITLOS stated.
Almost two years have passed since the Nigerian Authority arrested the Switzerland-flagged tanker, which was reportedly engaged in a ship-to-ship gas oil transfer around Nigeria’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
San Padre Pio, operated by Swiss ABC Maritime, was arrested with the purpose of not having a permission to sail into Nigerian waters and for illegal fuel trading.
On the other hand the captain of the tanker claimed that the vessel did have the permission to ship the fuel to Nigeria.
Previous this year, Switzerland from its side started arbitral proceedings under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea against Nigeria, requesting to release the detained vessel, its Master and the crew.
In light of the situation, back in July, ITLOS prescribed provisional measures by ordering Nigeria to release San Padre Pio, in case Switzerland provides the relevant guarantees. But since then, there were no further updates for the issue.
However based on the ship’s AIS data from VesselsValue, the tanker vessel is still anchored at Bonny Anchorage.
Concluding, during several discussions with ITLO’s President Paik at the tribunal, both sides came in an agreement to transfer their dispute to the tribunal.