News

New Piracy Risk


2019
was a particularly difficult year for the port of Limbe in South-West Cameroon,
a region which has been at the heart of a separatist conflict since 2017 and
was recently officially declared an economic disaster area.

To
make matters worse, two apparently unrelated incidents occurred in Limbe last
year.

The
latest was the first ever pirate attack against a petrol tanker on 30 December
2019.

Despite
a strong army and navy presence due to the threat of separatist attacks, the
chemical/oil product tanker, Happy Lady, was attacked at anchorage by six armed
men in a speedboat.

One
crew member received a bullet in the foot and eight have been kidnapped.

Unlike
Douala, the local armed forces do not provide armed guards to vessels at
anchorage in Limbe, but in the light of this first pirate attack against a
ship, the authorities are reviewing security procedures in the port.

SONARA Oil Terminal and Refinery

Limbe,
in the Gulf of Guinea, comprises an oil terminal and refinery owned by the Cameroon
state company, SONARA.

On
31st May 2019 at about 21:30 LT, a sudden explosion occurred at the Limbe
terminal and this resulted in a serious fire at both the SONARA refinery and
the Limbe terminal.  The fire caused
significant material damage to the plant.

On
3rd June 2019 at about 10:30 LT, another explosion occurred at the SONARA
Terminal followed by thick smoke and fire. 
The terminal claims that this was caused by residual combustion from the
initial fire.

The
incident brought the main production unit of the refinery to a halt and SONARA has
issued an official declaration of ‘’Force Majeure’’ temporarily suspending all
refinery activities.

To
date, although the refinery is at a standstill, the other activities of the company,
namely the storage and distribution of clean petroleum products, continue and
SONARA continues to supply the local market by using small coastal tankers
feeding from Limbe to Douala.

Fines

As
Limbe is a sea port, disputes with MARPOLauthorities are not as frequent as in Douala whose estuary is surrounded by
nature reserves.

However,
we would of course, recommend that vessels calling at Limbé comply with MARPOL
Resolutions by ensuring appropriate treatment of sewage water to attain
permissible parameters, i.e.

 

·       
Ships built prior to 2010: Resolutions
MEPC.2 (VI) dd 03 DECEMBER 1976 apply with the following rates:

 

1.   Fecal Coliforms:   250 mg/100
L 

2.   Suspended solids:  40 to 50 mg/L

3.   BOD5: max 50 mg/L

 

·       
Ships built from 2010: Resolutions
MEPC.2 159 (55) apply with the following rates

1.   Fecal Coliforms:   100 mg/100
L 

2.   Suspended solids: max 35 mg/L

3.   BOD5: max 25 mg/L

The
fines for pollution are very high, ranging from USD 20,000.00 to USD 100,000.00
(separate fines may be applied for each breach) and prison sentences are also
possible.

PSC
in Limbe also require various original
documents stamped and signed (such as P&I Certificate of entry, H&M
insurance certificate).  They do not accept copies or electronic
documents.

Vessels
calling in Limbe may also experience difficulties with Customs as they also require
various documents in original hard copy form e.g.: last port clearance,
cargo manifest, Certificate of calibration, Certificate of quality, Certificate
of quantity.  Customs fines may amount to
the value of the cargo or 3 times this value if Customs consider that an offence
has been committed.

Information
provided by

 

Suzanne
Moume

Budd
Cameroun

suzanne.moume@budd-pni.com