eTracking Reveals Increasing Petroleum Tankers Hijacking

Hijacking of petroleum tankers still persists despite the introduction of 'Project Aquila’, an electronic system of loading petroleum products at tank farms because most of the products being loaded from the tank farms around Ibru jetty are not tracked under the project Aquila scheme.

Aquila is a Latin word for eagle, a bird known for its strength, speed and swiftness.

Comrade Tayo Boyeji, assistant secretary, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of NUPENG said that if a truck is being tracked properly as it should be, there is no way such a truck can be diverted without being noticed.

He spoke with Shipping Position Daily and claimed that that a truck that is not being tracked can be hijacked to any unknown spot.

“Petroleum tankers are not being diverted anymore, they are now being hijacked, unfortunately, it is only 30 percent of the trucks that are being tracked, the remaining 70 percent are not being tracked and therefore, once they are hijacked that is the end of the product”, he said.

He also said that the reason for this is because many of the petroleum depots did not make it compulsory to track all the trucks leaving their depots with petroleum products.

He also pointed out that owners of the cargoes sometimes contribute to the problem by refusing to get their product tracked.

recently alleged that 70 percent of the petroleum trucks that are being loaded from the tank farms around Ibru jetty are not tracked under the project Aquila scheme.