The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi on Tuesday received reports of investigation into two marine accidents, which occurred in Lagos and Delta in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
The first accident occurred on December 21, 2013.
It occurred at about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Lagos between MV Niki C, and a motor tanker MT Charon killing some seamen.
The second accident, however, involved an MT Elixir and MT Tank, which occurred in 2015 along Bonga Terminal in Warri Delta.
Amaechi, while receiving the report of the investigation, said that the ministry had in 2014 constituted a board of inquiry to investigate the accidents.
The minister who was represented by Danjuma Dauda, Director, Maritime Safety and Security, promised that the ministry would study and take necessary action on the report.
The Secretary of the Board, Emmanuel Swanta, said that the nine-man committee headed by Chief Magistrate Adebisi Femi-segun, was saddled with the responsibility to investigate what led to the incidents.
Swanta said that the board was also asked to establish the owners and chatterers of the vessels and those who have connections with the vessels.
He added that they were to further cross-examine the crew members on board the vessels at the time of the incidents, to establish the causes of the incidences.
“We were asked to investigate and establish the actual crew members on board the days that the incidents occurred with a view to determining the veracity of the report on the dead persons.
“We were also to assess the compliance of such vessels with the standard prescribed by the Port State Control, as at the time of the incidences.
“We are also asked to recommend appropriate measures that need to be put in place to avert any re-occurrence of similar incidents and another matter that may arise during the course of the investigation,” he said.
Swanta said that the outcome of the assignment and the recommendations were contained in the committee’s three-volume report.
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