The Trinity Spirit, a decades-old floating oil production and storage ship that blew up off the coast of Nigeria last week, has left a slick of black oil in the ocean stretching for several miles, according to an image from the European Space Agency processed by Kayrros SAS, a geoanalytics firm.
It appears to be as much as 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) wide and 30 kilometers long, said Kuniaki Sasaki, an expert at the Ocean & Beach Foundation, who has examined major incidents previously.
He was unable to estimate the volume of crude leaked from the image. Nigeria has provided no official estimate of the spill size.
The ship was built in 1976. The field where the Trinity Spirit is located hasn’t been produced since 2017, according to government data.
That suggests the vessel might have been storing crude for other producers or traders.
The Trinity Spirit exploded off the coast of Nigeria in what may prove to be the nation’s second major environmental setback in three months.
The vessel able to store about 2 million barrels of oil, blew up early last Wednesday, Shebah Exploration & Production Co., which has the vessel on lease, said in a statement. The ship can process up to 22,000 barrels a day, according to the company’s website.
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The incident which led to at least two confirmed fatalities puts increasing focus on the oil industry’s environmental legacy in Nigeria.
In November, a well operated by independent producer Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. blew, spewing oil and gas into the air and surrounding river for five weeks before it was capped.
As international companies such as Shell Plc sell their remaining onshore and shallow water assets in the country, activists and local communities fear they will retreat without addressing widespread damage allegedly caused by decades of pumping oil.
