Navy impounds vessel on illegal activity

 Baleta, Captain of the seized vessel 
THE Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy has seized a
vessel on illegal activity along the Calabar Fairway Board in
Cross River State.
The impounded vessel had 14 Nigerians and one Ghanaian on
board.
The Flag Officer Commanding, ENC, Rear Admiral Atiku
Abdulkadir, disclosed this at the Nigerian Navy Ship Victory jetty
in Calabar shortly after interrogating the crew members of the
apprehended vessel.
Abdulkadir said the vessel was arrested for operating on the
waterways without valid Navy and fisheries permit from the
Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
“The vessel was arrested for violating the regulations of the
Navy and that of fishing authorities. The vessel was operating
without permit from any relevant quarters. This vessel is not fit
to be on the sea.
“It has one foreigner on board and we are not sure if he has a
valid working permit. We are still going on with the
investigations and I can assure you that we will hand them over
to the relevant authorities for prosecution,” he assured.
According to him, the implication for operating on the sea
without valid Navy permit can endanger the lives of other
marine operators.
“The vessel was caught with some fishes inside and that is an
infraction on the fisheries regulation. From a real point of view,
this vessel can be taken over by pirates for other criminal
activities and thereby making other water users to be scared,”
he said.
He added that the vessel was not in the Navy’s list of cleared
vessel permitted to operate on the waterways.
The FOC warned sea pirates and illegal marine operators to
desist from perpetrating crimes along the waterways, saying
that anyone caught will face the law.
The Captain of the seized vessel, Mr. Martin Baleta, admitted he
operated the vessel without Navy and fisheries permit.
Baleta said he started operating the vessel two months ago,
adding that he had not applied for any permit from the relevant
authorities.
“I did not get clearance from any authority. My assistant only
said he made some calls before we set out. I am aware that
before going out, we need to get permit from the Navy and
fishing licence and others from Immigration and Customs.
Unfortunately, we did not get any,” he said.
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