Regulatory Negligence: Another Maritime Disaster Looms In Niger-Delta

·  As ‘VIGEO ADEMOLA’ begins to sink

·  NIMASA’s Maritime Safety Director abandons job for cruising in Dubai

Few weeks after a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, named Trinity Spirit, exploded near Escravos in Warri,  another major maritime disaster is set to happen as a Nigerian flagged vessel DP2 PSV ‘VIGEO ADEMOLA’ is taking in water.

The vessel as captured above has been in distress for over two months at the Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) Onne main anchorage without proper crew as only security personnel are onboard.

Presently, the vessel has developed a terrible port list, with a negative metacentric height (angle of loll), any external force applied to the vessel will cause her to capsize (over turn), without valid insurance or class.

According to reports, the vessel’s owner; Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Rivers State Government have been contacted, yet none has made any effort to salvage the vessel in ample time to avoid another dangerous wreck obstruction at the middle of the shipping channel to FOT Onne, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

When contacted, the Head of Public Relations at NIMASA, Mr. Osagie Edwards couldn’t confirm the incident. However, he promised to make findings on the development and address the public soonest.

Meanwhile, few days after FPSO Trinity Spirit exploded, another Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) and the rig on a barge caught fire with no response or report from NIMASA and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NUPRA).The name of the drilling rig was Seacor Endurance and the owners Guaranty Oil.

Hours before the vessel caught fire, an eye witness gave this account of the incident: “We heard a kick and the rig wasn’t prepared for this eventuality. The problem started because there was no drilling mud onboard. The mud mixer that was brought couldn’t work because the agitator wasn’t functional. In the night there was heavy kick and the gas started leaking from the well head. The barge lowered down into the water and the workers onboard had to evacuate the premise via life-boats. Other Engineers are on the barge because they have done all they could to rescue the well but they couldn’t.”

“The entire mud inside the well has been drained up. This is a very critical emergency situation. The gas has been leaking for days and the oil well is 10,060ft. This is a gas zone and it is a very risky situation. We are expecting another barge to come with mud from town. That would enable us to rescue this oil well, if possible. We finished drilling this well almost three weeks ago, but we have been having various safety threats and no one is prepared to take responsibility. The lower section of the barge, which is the kitchen, store and entire engine section, is below the water.”

Speaking with MMS Plus newspaper, a former Executive Director of NIMASA who preferred anonymity confirmed this impending disaster at Port Harcourt.

His words: “This is yet another report of maritime mishap or disaster waiting to happen on our waters. NIMASA is nowhere to be found. The agency only appears like the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to take pictures after the disaster has happened. After the FPSO Trinity Spirit explosion, would you believe that the man you grilled in NIMASA as Head of Safety, who should be the head of operation in the explosion site as on-scene Commander is away in Dubai as we speak? That is a complete dereliction of duty.”

Indeed, the Head of Maritime Safety and Seafarers’ Standards department at NIMASA, Engr. Aladenusi Olu told MMS Plus that he wasn’t in the country penultimate week, but he didn’t disclose the reason for traveling. Meanwhile, sources have confirmed that Engr. Olu in 2017 as the Chief Surveyor in NIMASA led the supervision team that rendered ill-fated Trinity Spirit out of Class.

Speaking on the explosion of FPSO Trinity Spirit, the former ED said: “One question you should ask Engr. Olu or DPR successor agency, is who in NIMASA issued DPR Certificate of “No Objection” for Trinity Spirit  to operate in Nigerian waters? Without this, DPR wouldn’t have allowed Trinity another 24 hours to operate in Nigeria after she failed the Condition Survey test. The NIMASA man was lying by his teeth and it’s very unfortunate.”

“Who is in-charge of the pollution from Trinity while Engr. Olu is in Dubai? Is this the right time to cruise when our coastal waters are in turmoil? What is the NIMASA mandate under the IMO MARPOL Convention? It should lead the clean up exercise and be able to tell us how much oil escapes or spilt to sea. There were fatalities, in both two explosions, Trinity and the MODU, NIMASA should do Pi – Preliminary Investigation that will lead definitely to the Minister setting up a Marine Board as a must and in accordance with the Merchant Shipping Act MSA.”

In a separate chat with our correspondent, another former NIMASA Director said: “All crew certificates, Class and Statutory Certificates must be up to date, otherwise these vessels should be prosecuted and heavily fined, some as much as $200million. Mind you, to clean up the mess may cost as much as N350billion in addition to the pollution to our waters. NIMASA has continuously proved to be a lame duck. The man you investigated is a complete disaster and liar. I trained him. He didn’t train himself as he claimed.”

Commenting on the recent explosion which occurred on Trinity Spirit FPSO, the NIMASA Director General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh described the incident as unfortunate.

He assured that the NIMASA team is working with other relevant organs of Government to establish the immediate and remote causes of the fire explosion.

Jamoh noted that the issue of environmental pollution was highlighted in the preliminary report and the Agency will work with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the use of the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) funds for compensation of all the losses within and around the facility. He said that the public will be informed of every detail concerning the incident as the situation unfolds.