The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency said it has received an alert from the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade Gulf of Guinea Watchkeepers regarding an attempted boarding of the Malta-flagged chemical tanker, Endo Ponente, at position 05°10’N, 001°23’E, close to Lome Port, Togo.
NIMASA announced this in a statement on Friday by its Head of Public Relations, Osagie Edward, who explained that intelligence gathered from NIMASA’s C4i Centre later placed the vessel at 04°19’16” N, 01°35’59” E, within Ghana’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
“At 20:53 hrs on Thursday, August 28, 2025, the C4i Centre of NIMASA received an alert from the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade Gulf of Guinea Watchkeepers regarding an attempted boarding of the Malta-flagged chemical tanker, Endo Ponente, at position 05°10’N, 001°23’E, close to Lome Port, Togo. Intelligence gathered from the C4i Centre later placed the vessel at 04°19’16” N, 01°35’59” E, within Ghana’s Exclusive Economic Zone. The NIMASA Special Mission Vessel DB Lagos, operated by the Nigerian Navy under the Deep Blue Project, was immediately alerted and is currently closing in on the distressed vessel,” Edward said.
According to him, the crew has retreated to the Citadel in line with international best practice for ship security.
He added that NIMASA is actively coordinating with the Nigerian Navy and other regional maritime security agencies to ensure the crew’s safety and to support ongoing investigations into the incident.
Commenting on the development, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to regional maritime security cooperation.
“NIMASA remains committed to strengthening security collaboration across the Gulf of Guinea to safeguard seafarers, deter criminal activity, and ensure safer maritime trade, leveraging the Deep Blue Project,” Mobereola said.
The Endo Ponente, a moderate-risk Maltese-flagged chemical tanker, generally operates across the West, Central, and Southern African regions. Its last port call was at Kalamu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
