Video: Abandoned, Grounded Tanker Takes on List

The beached, abandoned tanker Tamaya 1 has developed a list to starboard, and her interior has been damaged by fire, reports the Telegraph. More than a week after she went aground, the cause of the incident and the whereabouts of her crew remain unknown.

In video footage posted on social media, the vessel is shown half supported by the sandy beach; one of her two lifeboats is missing, Liberia’s New Dawn reports.

"The [Liberian] Ministry of National Defense assures the public that the Liberian Coast Guard in concert with other security agencies are further investigating to unravel circumstances surrounding the abandoned oil tanker  and its subsequent drifting on the Liberian shores,” said the defense ministry. 

Ramzi Hoballah, a representative for Senegal-based ship agency SODATRA, the Tamaya's agent prior to 2011, says that his firm has had no contact with the vessel or her owners in recent years. Hoballah reports that he has heard (unconfirmed) information that she had recently been sold; the Equasis-listed beneficial owner, Tamaya Shipping Offshore of Beirut, Lebanon, has a recorded address in the ship's public record, but no additional means of contact. Panama Maritime Authority director general Fernando Solorzano told Tradewinds last week that the Tamaya's registration had been canceled last October due to a sale and transfer in Nigeria, but did not identify her current owners. She is no longer flagged in Panama, and Liberian Ministry of National Defense Assistant Minister Dahn confirmed Friday that she is Nigerian-flagged.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was not immediately available for comment. 

Dahn also called for a more cooperative approach by local media outlets, many of which have questioned the pace of the government response. “We as a government are under obligation to provide explanation; we have to be very careful to avoid problems with the news; on May 9 the Ministry of Defense observed with keen interest, the national security concern which has germinated as a result of an abandoned vessel along the western shores of Liberia," he said.