Prologue

My latest adventure, or should I say mis-adventure, involved rib patrol boats and gunboats mixed in a heady concoction of deceit, death, corruption and desolation. It’s a story that’s still going around and around in my head, and hopefully by setting out my thoughts it will help me come to terms with what must be my experience of a lifetime.

It all started out, as I guess many of these things do, by a phone call with the offer of some offshore oil support work operating some 35-40 miles offshore in the Gulf of Guinea. A planned one month stint during our winter months, in the warmth of Africa away from the cold and damp of blighty, and some good remuneration to boot!

Little was I to know that I was to become witness to the reality of life in the third world, between the haves and the have nots in what was in truth a division between life and death. As my story unfolds you will hear about a culture of deceit and corruption at the highest levels in government and military, why each and every white European carries a bounty of $2m on his head and the reasons why a militant organisation claims justification for piracy and murder.

Black gold, the oil that the west has an insatiable desire for, is the catalyst for a dreadfully greedy and violent part of Africa, Nigeria.

DAY BY DAY

Day 1. Tuesday 11th March

An exciting and early start to catch my flight from Manchester to Heathrow, before catching the daily BA flight to Lagos. I was met at the airport by a representative from my new employer, a UK Security Consultancy employing some 80 personnel. The job was to be the captain of an ex MOD Spitfire Class 24m, RTTL (Rescue and Target Towing Launch). It was one of two vessels recently acquired by the company with another two on the way. These vessels had been previously used by the RAF & Royal Navy for target towing in support of military exercises.

This was a great opportunity for me to gain valuable experience in a vessel somewhat larger than the 11m Humber Rib, which I worked on the wind farm at Burbo Bank, and the survey vessels in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

I arrived early evening in Lagos, to be met by the company’s shore based project manager and driven to the Lagos Motorboat Club. Lagos, a city built for 3 million inhabitants but which supports 8 million, was vastly overcrowded with poverty around every corner. The city is the economic and financial capital of Nigeria and the second most populous in Africa after Cairo. It’s a huge metropolis which originated on islands separated by creeks that fringe the southwest mouth of Lagos Lagoon, protected from the Atlantic Ocean by long sand spits.

From the Motorboat Club I was ferried out to Apapa Island to rendezvous with the boat, meet up with the crew, have a few beers and a BBQ in the + 30c heat, at what was now 9:30pm.

Day 2. Wednesday 12th March

Day break and familiarisation with the boat was conducted by the chief engineer, an ex South African Navy engineering officer. Then a briefing from the two company liaison officers on board, again South African, both from a security background. My first mate was Nigerian as was our assistant engineer, also our chief cook and bottle washer was a Nigerian. A total company complement of 7 persons, comprising three Nigerians, three South Africans and me, the only Brit!

Background

Offshore and onshore oil installations are heavily guarded by security organisations, due to the aggressive militant operations carried out by MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta). These militants have been engaging the military in regular battles in the creeks of the Bonny River since the Nigerian government decided to heighten operations in the region to halt rising cases of kidnapping of foreign oil workers, who carry a $2m bounty on their heads, and the murder of fellow Nigerians seen to be co-operating with the oil companies, as they have no value.

Nigeria relies on oil and gas exports for more than 90 per cent of its annual foreign earnings, but has been collecting dwindling revenue because of the destruction of oil production facilities and its infrastructure by the activities of the militants in the region which is currently at an all time high.

The Plan

Our task was to patrol an offshore oil installation in the Gulf of Guinea. Prior to this we were to rendezvous with the Nigerian Navy. Our sail plan involved leaving Lagos taking an offshore passage through the Bights of Benin and Biafra across the Gulf of Guinea, some one and a half days motoring (350nm) to arrive at Port Harcourt.

Our rendezvous point was the onshore LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) Plant terminal on Bonny Island. At this location our vessel was to be fitted out with four 12.7mm heavy calibre machine guns, two on the fly bridge with the second two astern, some light machine guns and a detachment of eight Nigerian marines with personal weapons, before proceeding to take up station offshore.

The Day’s Events

We had a Lagos pilot booked for 5pm so we took the opportunity to do final provisions and a fuel top up during the day. Our 24m patrol vessel was powered by twin 1,000hp engines. At 4pm, eight Nigerian Navy marines arrived and boarded as our guards during the passage. For security reasons the vessel was flying the Nigerian flag.

At 5pm with no sign of the pilot we cast off to wait in the middle channel for the pilot, which was not uncommon. The harbour entrance was quite formidable with watercraft dashing here, there and everywhere. A hundred ships were also at anchor just outside the harbour entrance.

I was very pleased to see the pilot cutter arrive and I welcomed aboard the pilot. After the formalities and documentation stamping etc. I asked to set the throttles forward to commence our passage. The pilot was immediately alarmed and requested our vessel to stop so that he could get off!

It became apparent that his job was only the paperwork and that we had to take ourselves out of the harbour and through the buoyage system to the fairway. On disembarking the pilot turned to me and pointedly asked did I have anything for him! He got short shrift from me, on this, my first introduction to the pre-requisite ‘backhander’.

At 6pm we successfully cleared the fairway buoy.

Day 3. Thursday 13th March

Steady motoring at 8 knots in a pleasantly rolling (no big waves) F2 all the way. We experienced some small delay due to the prevailing Guinea current across the Bight of Biafra on our way to Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State (the oil capital of Nigeria).

Day 4. Friday 14 March

Arrived at the entrance to the Bonny River channel just after noon, 12:15pm. The Nigerian marine’s lieutenant was quickly on his mobile phone to the local naval base to confirm our arrival and to take instructions on our meeting point. The Lagos marines were due to disembark and fly back to their home base in Lagos, their job done.

For some unapparent reason the guns could not be transported to the LNG jetty. We should continue to the jetty and wait for two patrol boats (gunboats) from the Nigerian Marines NNS Pathfinder group who would escort us to the Naval Base where the armaments would be fitted and the replacement detachment of Marines would board. As a civilian crew we were reliant on the Marines to handle all weaponry onboard.

One of the patrol boats, an 8-9m RIB, with five crew met us in mid channel to lead us to the jetty where the other patrol boat was refuelling. It was then decided that we would continue up the Bonny River led by the first patrol boat with the second boat following up once fully refuelled.

It wasn’t long before we were joined by the second patrol boat as we continued up the Bonny River, part of the Niger Delta. We were now well off our charts but with one patrol boat back and one front we pressed forward up river passing creeks at every twist and turn of this inhospitable river. Ship wrecks strewn the river bank which added to our sense of foreboding, but were in the hands of the Nigerian Navy so we should be alright!

Expecting to come upon a navy base at anytime it transpired that we had to go some 35 miles inland, through jungle waterways as well as open waters. At one stage I had to pass the helm over to my Nigerian number two while the white faced crew had to sit below the parapet because of the presence of militant hot spots. Some 6hrs later as nightfall befell us at 7pm we were rafted inside the navy base.

The base commander and an intelligence officer came aboard for 2hrs of questioning. The Lagos marines remained onboard and we all eventually bedded down for the night.

Day 5. Saturday 15th March

It was still expected that the armaments would be fitted at the navy base and the Lagos marines dismissed in order to catch their flight back to their home base. However a second intelligence officer returned and asked the same set of questions that were asked of us from the evening before. As our previous answers were still attached to this latest question list it was just a matter of copying out our yesterday answers. What was that all about? Information was very lacking and in the end nothing happened.

Day 6. Sunday 16th March

Standoff. Still nothing happened.

Day 7. Monday 17th March

St Patrick’s day and not a Guinness in sight! Not that this was of any consequence, being teetotal. The Lagos marines were becoming quite agitated and angry as they should have been flown home the previous Saturday. Their guard duties became non existent, sleeping most of the time. From this time on we set-up our own 4hr bridge night watches.

Day 8. Tuesday 18th March

Two company representatives arrived from Lagos, although not employed by our company they had some association with our operation. One an ex Nigerian Army Officer and the other an ex Nigerian Police Chief. They met with the base commander, returned to Lagos, and still nothing happened.

Day 9. Wednesday 19th March

By this time we were under the distinct impression we were being detained. Even if we could take our vessel out of the navy base how would we navigate the river, miss the militants and go where? At best we would probably become one of the many ‘hulks’ rotting away on the bottom of the Bonny River.

Our days had passed waiting for something to happen, some news or some direction. We watched interestedly as each evening we saw the patrol boats refuel in a most basic way. Fifty gallon drums of gasoline were casually rolled down and pushed around the quay, a plastic pipe inserted and ’sucked’ by a marine to draw up the fuel, and then passed over the deck to the fuel tank fillers. The air was rank with vapour and the bilges probably sloshed around with gasoline. Today one of the more friendly patrol boat skippers told us, “whatever you do don’t sail this boat out!” as a means of being helpful, I guess.

My Armageddon - Part II

On its way!

The author is the editor and publisher of an online power boat magazine for sports and professional users of rigid hull inflatable boats, RIBs. www.hotribs.com