Olusola Bello
The Management of Shebah Exploration & Production Company Ltd (SEPCOL) has confirmed a fire incident at its offshore Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FSPO) facility on Wednesday.
The incident was confirmed in statement signed by Ikemefuna Okafor, the chief executive officer, SEPCOL (in receivership), on Thursday in Lagos
He said: “The unfortunate incident of a fire that engulfed our offshore facility, the FPSO Trinity Spirit located at the Ukpokiti Teminal, 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.”
He stated that as the time of the incident 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.”
“ 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 continue to monitor the situation and update all stakeholders with new information as the investigation evolves”.