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- In an unfortunate incident, an oil production vessel exploded off the coast of Nigeria early on Wednesday
- There were 10 crew members on board, whose whereabouts have to be ascertained as yet
- Nigeria’s Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) said that flames had engulfed the Trinity Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel
In an unfortunate incident, an oil production vessel exploded off the coast of Nigeria early on Wednesday. There were 10 crew members on board, whose whereabouts have to be ascertained as yet.
Nigeria’s Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) said that flames had engulfed the Trinity Spirit floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. There are reports of a blast a day before the explosion in the ship.
The Trinity Spirit has the capacity to process up to 22,000 barrels of oil a day. It can store up to 2 million barrels at any one time, according to the company sources. It is not known how much oil was stored at the time of the explosion nor whether the oil has spilled over to the ocean.
Some unofficial sources said that the vessel had about 50,000 barrels in storage and was not pumping crude from the Ukpokiti oilfield at the time of the explosion. SEPCOL is yet to comment on the status of the vessel. It is significant to note that the company presently is under receivership.
