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OKITIPUPA, NIGERIA (AP) — Until early last year, a rusting oil ship named the Trinity Spirit floated off the coast of Nigeria, pulling crude oil from the ocean floor. Then, last February, it exploded, collapsing into the ocean along with 40,000 barrels of oil.
Five workers were killed and two others presumed dead, their bodies never found. Oil slicks were visible in satellite imagery for days.
The Associated Press drew on ship databases, court documents, and the accounts of three survivors to offer an inside look at the yearslong decline of the aging ship, the numerous warning signs, and the explosion’s messy aftermath — as the survivors, who complained of dangerous working conditions and withheld wages, were accused of setting the ship ablaze.
The Trinity Spirit also fits a wider pattern of old tankers put to work storing and extracting oil even while on the brink of mechanical breakdowns. Here are takeaways from AP’s report.
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This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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WHAT KIND OF SHIP WAS THE TRINITY SPIRIT?
The Trinity Spirit was part of a class of vessels that extracts oil offshore and stores it at sea. They are known as floating production storage and offloading units — FPSOs — or as FSOs, floating storage and offloading units, when used only for storage. Since the 1970s, they’ve become increasingly popular for developing oil in deep waters and in places where no pipelines exist. According to the environmental group SkyTruth, there are some 240 in operation today.
FPSOs are unlike most ships for one key reason: They stay in place. Once attached to the ocean floor, they can linger at the same oil field for years or even decades. Many spent the first half of their lives as oil tankers, and were later repurposed into stationary ships.
WHAT CAUSED THE OIL SHIP TO EXPLODE?
Nigerian authorities haven’t published a conclusive reason as to why the Trinity Spirit exploded, but photos of the ship shortly before it exploded and the accounts of three survivors point to it being in a state of near-total disrepair. The engine room flooded twice, one crew member told AP, and the main generator plant was damaged and never repaired. The surviving crew members said maintenance had all but stopped on the 46-year-old ship.
Though a company that had operated the ship accused two surviving crew members of illegally storing oil on the ship and setting it on fire, the two men told AP they were sleeping when the explosion happened. The criminal charges against them were later dropped.