NNPC, Others Move To Curtail Tanker Fire Mishaps

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in collaboration with other stakeholders in the petroleum industry, have activated an initiative known as ‘Safe-to-Load’ to mitigate incessant tanker accidents and fire outbreaks across the country.

Stakeholders in the sector held a meeting on Wednesday at the NNPC headquarters in Abuja, sequel to the initiative of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Haulage Operations in Nigeria aimed at ensuring safety in the country’s oil business.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, said proffering a lasting solution to the challenge had become imperative, given the frequent fire incidents from petroleum tankers with attendant loss of lives and property.

“As an organisation founded on operational excellence, the NNPC has a safety checklist for loading of petroleum products from its terminals and is interested in ensuring harmonisation of the ‘Safe-to-Load’ checklists being used by all terminals across the country,” he said.

Kyari said the corporation was digitising all its analogue-loading facilities to ensure that all trucks leaving the NNPC depots comply with the required axle limits.

He said the corporation had also kick-started the installation of weigh-bridges and sprinklers across all loading gantries to forestall incidents.