Newly Acquired Navy Warship Arrives Nigeria, Set to Tackle Maritime Illegalities

As part of its numerous measures to tackle the menace of maritime illegalities that have continued to bedevil the nation's maritime domain, the Nigerian Navy (NN) fleet received a boost yesterday with the arrival of the newly acquired warship.

The warship, named Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) OKPABANA, which was from the United States government, yesterday berthed at the NN dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos, in preparation for its commissioning and subsequent deployment to crime prone areas.

THISDAY gathered that although the vessel was given to the navy at no extra cost, it however had to spend about $8.5million, being the cost of refurbishment and transfer.

The vessel set sail from the US after the refurbishment and was brought back to Nigerian waters by the Commanding Officer, Captain MA Ibrahim alongside his 146-man crew.

While receiving the vessel, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, said the addition to the fleet would boost the navy's war against maritime crimes within the maritime domain like illegal fishing, arms proliferation, crude oil theft, smuggling and piracy.

He said, "It is worthy of note to state that the successes recorded by NNS THUNDER in curtailing threats in our maritime domain and the larger Gulf of Guinea region, with the confidence reposed in our country by the US made it possible to acquire NNS OKPABANA.

"The addition of this ship into the NN fleet will certainly bolster our zeal to end the menace in our maritime domain and the region, as well as support the regional and global effort to eliminate transnational maritime threats.

"This nation has always requested the navy to do more and with this, the government recognises that there must be needed platform for the navy to do its job well.

"The present government headed by President Goodluck Jonathan, took the recapitalisation of fleets as a huge challenge and has invested huge funds through the acquisition of two Off-shore Patrol Vessels (OPV) from China and this one from USA.

"It is hoped that by the time we take delivery of all, the NN will be better for it. We will deploy the vessel based on threat perceptions.

"For us to be able to do effective maintenance, it is better to co-locate the two ships (OKPABANA and THUNDER) in the same command.

"However, deployment should be based on threat perception. If they are closely related and are operating about the same area, our maintenance team can be co-located where they are and sourcing for spares will be easier".