21 May 2013, WARRI – AN OIL vessel conveying about one million litres of diesel, AGO, belonging to Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, was gutted by a mystery fire, 10 kilometres from to OPL 245, offshore Nigeria, and all 13 crew member were rescued alive.
The vessel, MT Okiki was reported to have caught fire last Tuesday near the Agbami field and was said to be carrying the product to Agip Energy, a subsidiary of NAOC in Port Harcourt when the incident occurred.
National Oil Spill detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA sources in Warri said they were quickly informed of the outbreak of fire on board the oil vessel and they in turn informed the NIMASA and the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, authorities, saying that the three bodies then boarded a Chopper to the location where all the crew members were rescued alive.
The sources further disclosed that the inferno only affected the accommodation section of the ship with no spill recorded. The cause of the inferno is still shrouded in mystery. Meanwhile, effort are on being made by the relevant authorities to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the fire outbreak, NOSDRA sources revealed.
*Emma Arubi, Vanguard