13 persons declared missing as oil vessel explodes in Delta

By Timi Black
Chief Correspondent

About 13 persons have been declared missing as a floating Production, Storage and Offloading, FPSO, vessel explosion in Escravos river in Delta State.

The incident reportedly occurred on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 as suspected fire exploded in the vessel, causing serious panic in the oil industry in the country.

However, the Chief Executive Officer of Shebah Exploration and Production Company Ltd confirmed the incident, adding that no fatality was recorded at the time of filing this report.

According to the CEO, “The management of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) in
RECEIVERSHIP hereby announce the unfortunate incident of a fire that engulfed our offshore facility, the FPSO Trinity Spirit located at the Ukpokiti Terminal, following an explosion during the early hours of Wednesday, 2nd of February 2022.

“The cause of the explosion is currently being investigated and we are working with necessary parties to contain the situation.

“At this time there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were ten crewmen on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritising investigations with respect to their safety and security.

“We appreciate the assistance provided us by the Clean Nigeria Associates, the Chevron team operating in the nearby Escravos facility, and our community stakeholders as well as fishermen, who have been of tremendous assistance since the incident happened.

“We have duly notified all relevant authorities and we appeal to the members of the public to stay away from the area while our Crisis Management Team continues to monitor the situation and update all stakeholders with new information as the investigation evolves.”

Congress gathered that about 13 persons have been declared missing, following the fire FPSO incident in Nigeria waters.