Lagos: An oil production ship exploded off the coast of Nigeria in what may well prove the nation’s second major environmental blow in three months.
The Trinity Spirit, a vessel able to store about 2 million barrels of oil, blew up early Wednesday, Shebah Exploration & Production Co., which has the vessel on lease, said in a statement. The ship can process up to 22,000 barrels a day, according to Shebah’s website.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities.
The FPSO Trinity Spirit, with a 22,000 barrels of oil per day capacity, is a floating production, storage and offloading vessel in Warri south-west, Niger Delta.
SEPCOL is in receivership, a form of bankruptcy protection.
Okafor said investigations were underway to establish the cause of the explosion in the early hours of Wednesday while attempts to contain the situation were being made with help from local communities and Chevron, which has a facility nearby.
"At this time there are no reported fatalities, but we can confirm that there were ten crew men on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritising investigations with respect to their safety and security," he said.
In early November, a well operated by independent producer Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. blew, spewing oil and gas into the air for weeks before it was capped.
