Sea-Puma

The 'Sea Puma' has been impounded at the port of Tema, Ghana, on Nov 30,2020, after government officials discovered that it was containing gasoline products which had allegedly been declared as sludge. The Tema Command of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority impounded the vessel on suspicion that the gasoline products were being smuggled out of Ghana in a tax evasion attempt. A sludge product normally contains about 50 per cent or more of water and as such may be exempted from tax. Officials of the vessel, the Kpabulga Energy LTd., in a letter signed by its Director of Operations, on Nov 23, had made an application to the Director of Tema Port seeking for clearance to discharge some 200 cubic litres of sludge, a waste product made up of a mixture of oil, water and other substances, at the port. The vessel had been discharging gasoline products into some Bulk Road Vehicles, popularly referred to as tanker trucks, when Customs officials swooped on them and halted the operations.