Six weeks after the Trinity Spirit fire, there is still no public accounting of the number of fatalities and injuries. The initial reports were incomplete and inconsistent, even with regard to the number of people on the vessel at the time of the incident.
Ikemefuna Okafor, the executive officer of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL), the vessel owner, said late Sunday “three crew members have been found alive in the community”.
The incident occurred last Wednesday (2/2), but the only public statement from the operator was the following day:
“At this time there are no reported fatalities but we can confirm that there were 10 crewmen on board the vessel prior to the incident and we are prioritising investigations with respect to their safety and security,” SEPCOL Chief Executive Ikemefuna Okafor said in a statement.
That statement has been contradicted by at least 2 Nigerian press reports:
Meanwhile, three persons have been confirmed dead while eleven others declared missing following the explosion. Sources told reporters in Warri yesterday that three bodies had been recovered while 12 others were yet to be accounted for at the time of filing this report.
Daily Trust had, however, gathered that three Seafarers working onboard the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility may have lost their lives in the fire
The only public statement by the Nigerian regulator (NUPRC) echoed the SEPCOL statement:
“There has been no report of any casualties or fatalities and the Commission will take necessary measures to ensure that all safety and environmental measures in line with global best practices to safeguard lives and the environment are put in place.”
Comments:
Apparently, the fate of the workers was unknown, and the “no report of any casualties” comments were misleading and inappropriate given the gravity of the situation.
Neither the operator nor the regulator have provided any update on the number of workers safely recovered or missing, or the status of any ongoing search.
There is not a single mention of the fire on either the operator or regulator website.
There seems to be uncertainty about the size of the crew at the time of the incident.
This Nigerian source is now reporting that there are 3 confirmed deaths, and 11 workers declared missing. No other sources are reporting casualties at this time.
The latest AFP report indicates that the fire has been extinguished.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Thursday disclosed that it had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the explosion of a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel in Warri, Delta State.
Industry source indicated that the FPSO was not producing at the time and had about 50,000 barrels in storage
No indication that any wells are on fire
Per Rystad the FPSO has not been producing since 2019 and was being used solely for storage.
Per Reuters, SEPCOL is the technical operator of the block though the production licence was held by consortium member Express Petroleum. SEPCOL’s production license had reportedly been revoked in 2019 for legacy debts.
Lots of important technical, operational, and management aspects to this major incident. Hopefully, NUPRC’s report will be publicly available at the conclusion of their investigation.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 