Ahamefula Ogbu
14 January 2008
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Eastern Operations Manager, Mr. Sotonye Etomi yesterday formally debunked the claim of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) to have bombed the vessel which exploded in Port Harcourt three days ago and blamed it on electrical problems.
He also said that communities around where the vessel has drifted to after the Ibeto Cement Jetty went on a scooping spree of the burning vessel which had discharged 2,000 metric tonnes out of the 7,500 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit it was carrying.
Etomi who took newsmen to where the vessel, MV Golden Lucy lay prostrate while some fire fighting thug boats still sprayed it with water and foam pointed to hoses with which they siphoned the product from the vessel before the marine arm of the Joint Military Task Force was called in to restore order.
The NPA boss said that the preliminary investigations carried out showed that the fire arose from an electrical fault, adding that it was mischievous for any one to claim that it bombed the vessel as their security was too tight for the operation claimed by MEND.
He said the vessel had berthed at berth seven and was discharging the products when the explosion occurred.
Preliminary steps they took, was to activate internal mechanisms of the vessel to fight fire and cool the compartments before other external measures were taken.
Etomi said the first thing they did was to isolate the ship which current latter drifted off the quay before it took it towards the sea where it was assisted to a point where it is being guarded nearly opposite Ikassa community.
According to him, the extent of damage and cost of the fire were being ascertained while insurance companies have already come in to do a proper assessment of the damage but assured that they keep to globally expected safety standards which prevented the fire from escalating.
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