The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has debunked claims of neglect by the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association (NITOA) and the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association over the fire that gutted a trawler, MV ORC IV, off Bonny Channel.
According to a statement by its Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Andy Odeh, which described the allegations as false and misleading.
“We are aware of claims made by the some persons with links to a trawler association regarding Nigeria LNG Limited’s response to a distress call by a trawler 45 Kilometres SW of Bonny Fairway Buoy. On receiving the distress call at around 21:07 hours on February 6, 2019, we responded by sending out a long range security boat to the location.
“On getting there, the crew of the long range boat found other sister vessels engaged in rescuing the crew of the distressed trawler boat. The boat returned to base after confirming that the trawler boat crew had been rescued by sister vessels,” the statement read.
The statement further explained that at 13:20 hours on February 7, following reports of a fishing boat on fire in the same location, the NLNG sent a tug boat with fire-fighting capabilities and two security boats. The tugboat, the statement explained, “put out the fire and the crew of the security boats doused small fires in the fish hold”.
The statement added that the NLNG is a good corporate citizen and it continues to exhibit caring to people and the environment, because “caring is one of NLNG’s core values”.
The NITOA and the Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association last week blamed the NLNG and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for failure to respond swiftly to distress call on the fire that gutted MV ORC IV, maintaining that two seafarers were still missing from the incident. The Nation
