- The vessel, ‘Trinity Spirit’ had capacity for two million barrels of oil
Oil production ship Trinity Spirit sank at Escravos coast, Delta State, Nigeria after an explosion in the early hours of Wednesday. A video of the vessel bursting into flames was captured and posted to social media.
The explosion happened at the Ukpokiti oil field, Escravos terminal.
The vessel, known as a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO), is owned by the Shebah Exploration and Production Company Limited (SEPCOL), which confirmed the incident.
The company’s chief executive, Ikemefuna Okafor said the ten crewmembers were aboard the ship at the moment of the explosion.
“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 prioritizing investigations with respect to their safety and security,” he said.
Okafor said investigations were underway to determine the cause of the explosion and that local communities and a nearby Chevron facility are helping to contain the situation.
The Trinity Spirit, built in 1976, had a capacity to process up to 22,000 barrels of oil per day and store two million barrels, operating in a manner similar to an offshore oil rig.
It remains unclear how much oil may have been spilled in the incident, but experts are concerned that the explosion could cause a second environmental disaster to Nigeria in months after that of waterways in Nembe, Bayelsa State.