A ship, MV Nashville, laden with toxic waste has allegedly been arrested and detained by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
The vessel is operated by American President Lines (APL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines. It has in its hold, among other things, 70 storage (lead) batteries classified as Basel-code A1180 and broken televisions.
A Dutch agency, VROM-Inspectorate and the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), had alerted the Federal Government on the ship Tuesday night.
It was learnt that when the ship arrived at the port on Wednesdays evening, NPA security and other security operatives arrested it immediately.
The NPA Managing Director, Malam Abdulsalam Mohammed, confirmed the arrest.
He explained that the detention was effected alongside other security agencies which included the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the State Security Service (SSS).
Mohammed said the vessel, whose ship-manifest showed that it was coming with harmless cargo, was yet to be interrogated or quizzed since a thorough and official confirmation of the ship manifest was yet to be done to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the ships cargo claim.
He said: In the manifest relating to the voyage, the container is said to contain a vehicle, microwave ovens, pressing irons, vehicle parts, television sets, childrens clothes, conservator tomatoes, dishes and cargo lift.
The vessel arrived Nigeria yesterday night, has not discharged any cargo and is currently under detention. Relevant agencies are collaborating to determine the actual content of the container and take necessary measures.
Source:shiptalk