The decades-old, oil-storage ship that blew up off the coast of Nigeria recently — killing some of its crew and spewing its contents into the Atlantic Ocean — is one of many vessels of similar vintage dotted across the globe.
The ship, which is still partially floating above water’s surface, was launched 46 years ago by President Gerald Ford. It was then reconstructed for storage 25 years later. According to Bloomberg data, over 30 more are still in operation.
Vessels like Trinity Spirit typically start out as oil tankers before reaching the end of their useful lives as transporters — typically a lifespan of not more than 20 years. To prolong their worth as assets, they get converted to vessels that float — usually in a single location — producing or just storing crude for other ships to collect. They’re known as FPSOs or FSOs and they can go on for years. (Editor’s note: FPSO is an acronym for “floating production storage and offloading,” while FSO is “floating storage and offloading”).
“It is a challenge for FPSOs in the late stage of their lifetime, especially when there has not been sufficient maintenance and necessary upgrade, as corrosion develops and equipment condition gets worse, and system integrity is a headache,” said Zhenying Wu, a senior analyst for Rystad Energy.
Harsh Conditions
The ships have to withstand extreme weather and harsh environmental conditions. Although most ships are meticulously maintained, their maintenance requirements increase with age.
The American Bureau of Shipping last year classified vessels for operating safety. The need to address these issues has been highlightedSafety issues such a structural integrity and maintenance challenges are common in the global fleet FPSOs. Over 50 of them will be reaching the end their design life within the next five years. Half of the FPSOs are more than 30 years old, and 25% over 40 years.
According to the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NODAR), the cause of the Trinity Spirit incident that resulted in the death of at least two crew members and the amount of crude oil spilled have yet to be determined. Its conversion 25 years ago means it was at the end of a typical life of a storage ship after it’s been reconfigured.
Ikemefuna Okafor, chief executive of Shebah Exploration and Production Co., which had the vessel on lease, didn’t answer several calls seeking comment.
According to Venediktos Roussos from Polygreen, an emergency response company for oil spillages, a conversion overhaul will add about 20 years to a ship’s life expectancy. Some are used beyond that period and can pose an environmental threat, especially if they’ve been neglected, he said.
“There are still a few FSOs and FPSOs out there in the world that are no longer in operation and have been left without maintenance or observation.”
These vessels have already been a source of concern.
The Trinity Spirit was built in the same year that the Safer was built. It holds more than a million barrels crude oil. The payload is in danger of leaking from its “fragile” hull or if struck by a missile fired in the conflict area, according to Greenpeace.
The environmental group Published a 40-page report in December that outlines potentially “catastrophic” environmental, health and economic liability posed by the ship, which has been deteriorating.
Brazil accounts for about half of the vessels that are active that were originally built more than 40 years ago but those carriers haven’t experienced issues anything like on the scale of the Trinity Spirit.
The nation’s state-owned oil company Petrobras operates in compliance with company standards and regulatory guidelines, a spokesman said. Public plans include replacing certain platforms at some fields with FPSOs. It considers their age to have started from the time they were converted and not when they were originally constructed.
Newer Vessels
The company reported cracks in the Cidade de Rio de Janeiro FPSO in 2019, which led to a leakage of oil. The vessel was built in 1986 and then converted in 2006. The incident has been investigated and the vessel has been removed from service. This has allowed for better management of all units to prevent any future incidents, the spokesperson said. He said that Petrobras platforms have maintenance and integrity plans that are consistent with all phases of operation.
Also, newer ships can have problems. Last year, Venezuela’s state oil company also transfered crude from the FSO Nabarima, launched in 2005, after union leaders flagged the risk of a spill.
Conversion generally involves evaluations, upgrades and integration, which makes the time since that was last done also very significant, “considering the fact that many accidents are caused by aging equipment and degrading system integrity,” according to Rystad’s Wu. “Continuous monitoring, maintenance and repair are very important.”
–With assistance from Mariana Durao, William Clowes, Anthony Osae-Brown and Elaine He.
Top photograph: Unidentified FPSO oil tanker at work. Photo credit: Bigstock
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