TAMAYA.1

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Nigarian national claims ownership of grounded tanker

The Nigerian national Robert M. Saigba has claimed ownership of the "Tamaya 1". Saigba, accompanied by two of the four crew members who were on board the ship, arrived in Monrovia on May 13. He claimed to be one of two shareholders in the company H. Matic’s Resources Limited based in Bayelsa State in Nigeria. The company is engaged in the supply of petroleum products, marine logistics, haulage, civil engineering and general contractual services. According to the Ministry of Defense, the three men came on board the "Arik Air" of their own volition and were not arrested, and they have since been cooperating with Liberian security institutions to unravel circumstances surrounding the vessel. Saigha told Liberian security personnel that he bought theship in 2015. Before it was transferred to him, it was used to transport groundnut oil from Senegal to Europe. The vessel set sail on April 22 from Dakar, Senegal for Nigeria and developed a technical fault at sea. It was later established through contact via s fishing vessel which he bought to trace the vessel that the "Tamaya 1" was found sinking in an area 7' 07'' North and 13' 08'' degrees East off Freetown and subsequently drifted to Liberia. According to Omowho Bernard, the chief engineer of the vessel who came along with Saigba, the ship started to leak from the engine room and all efforts to correct the situation failed. He said eventually, he and fellow crew members, including the captain, disembarked using a lifeboat to board a fishing boat, which came to their rescue. The lifeboat was abandoned at sea and drifted to the coast of Edina in Grand Bassa County. Investigation conducted by the Liberian Coast Guard (LCG) established that it was indeed one of the two lifeboats of the ship.

Lifeboat drifted empty in the sea

On May 13 the lifeboat of the "Tamaya 1" was spotted drifting in the sea105 miles from the grounding site o the tanker on May 4 off the port city Buchanan. No one was on board. The vessel itself was under police guard after episodes of attempted looting. It was hard aground and listing to starboard with waves breaking over the side. Police have been working on a theory that pirates attacked the ship. An unconfirmed report says that three people were seen leaving the tanker into a smaller boat earlier in May. Report with photos: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3589258/Beached-ghost-ship-guard-Liberia-surfer-paradise.html

Call on full scale investigation into ghost ship matter

A lawmaker of Montserrado County, Gabriel Nyenka, has called on the plenary of the House of Representatives to launch a full-scale investigation into the grounding of the "Tamaya 1" at Robertsport in Grand Cape Mount County. Police investigation had shown that there were no crew members on board the vessel and that communication gadgets on the vessel were all damaged. Nyenka, in a communication addressed to House Speaker Alex Tyler on May 10, described the appearance of the vessel in the territory of Liberia as a national security threat, asserting that it took 72 hours to attract the attention of any of the concerned national security agencies of Liberia. He entreated his colleagues to consider the sensitivity of the security threat being posed to the nation and act appropriately by authorizing the relevant committees of the House to launch a probe into the matter. Meanwhile, the House has forwarded the communication to its committees on National Defense and Maritime for appropriate actions based on the request of the Montserrado lawmaker.