WAF Shipping Focus: Week 43
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has conducted a targeted enforcement operation code named Operation Sea Guardian in order to enforce compliance with maritime regulations in Nigeria waters.
The operation which focused on vessels of interest identified through intelligence and surveillance profiling led to the arrest and detention of several vessels for non-conformity including MT HOLMES, MT FUJAIRAH ENERGY, JS GRATITUDE, MT BORA within the Lagos maritime domain. Some of the vessels which have regularised their infractions have since been release.
The Nigerian Navy has uncovered an estimated 132,000 litres of substance suspected to be stolen crude oil in Allison community, Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers.
The Director of Naval Information, Navy Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho in an operational report on Friday, said that the recovery disrupted a potential storage point within the illicit petroleum supply chain.
He revealed that the discovery was made on Oct. 22, by Forward Operating Base BONNY, under Operation DELTA SENTINEL following actionable intelligence.
Borr Drilling's Prospector 5 rig sank late on Saturday off the coast of Mayumba, Gabon, killing one employee and leaving four others missing among the 115 people on board, three sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
An Indian national, one of the five initially unaccounted for, has been found dead. The remaining four missing include three Gabonese nationals and one other expatriate, the sources said.
The government has not confirmed the death, instead saying that five people remain missing and that search efforts were ongoing.
"Preliminary information indicates that the rig experienced a punch-through event during preload activities, resulting in loss of stability and the subsequent sinking of the rig," the offshore drilling contractor said.
Boat owners and operators in Lagos have called on the state government to subsidise water transportation, saying rising fuel costs and high passenger fares are driving commuters towards cheaper road and rail alternatives and threatening the survival of their businesses.
The operators lamented that improved road networks, cheaper public transportation and increasing operational costs had reduced patronage on several waterways routes, leaving some boat services inactive and forcing operators to consider alternative livelihoods.
Seven Ghanaian fishermen who went missing since October 9, 2026 have been rescued safe and sound following a multi-nation search-and-rescue operation across the Gulf of Guinea.
The crew originally set out on a fishing expedition from Sekondi to Axim, in the Western Region of Ghana, aboard the canoe “Second Chance”.
However, an outboard motor breakdown left the fishermen at the mercy of winds and sea currents, causing the canoe to drift eastward through international maritime zones and into Benin waters.
Following a coordinated regional effort between the Ghana Maritime Authority, the Ghana Navy, the Togo Navy, the Benin Navy, and regional Maritime Coordinating Centres, including CRESMAO, MMCC Zone F, MMCC Zone E, and Navy MOCs, the fishermen were located and rescued by a combined team of the Benin Navy and a local Benin fishermen association at about 10:36 pm Ghana time on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has formalised its partnership with the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) with the endorsement of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU, which is aimed at promoting the mental health and well-being of Nigerian seafarers and cadets through training, awareness and capacity building.
This was the high point of a three-day Seafarers’ and Cadets’ Wellbeing Awareness and Train the Trainers Programme with the theme “Stress: Understanding, Early Management and Coping,” organised by NIMASA in collaboration with the ITF.
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