Company Magazine for the Odfjell Group - March 2005

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Into Africa Multitank Britannia calls Koko, Nigeria By Captain Stoil Dimov, Master of Multitank Britannia, at sea December 26th 2004 Just before Christmas, Multitank Britannia called Koko in the western Niger River Delta, to discharge a cargo of lubricating oil. Nigeria is a vast country with more than 260 tribes and a mixture of languages and religions. The Niger Delta State where Koko is located has oil resources, lush vegetation and numerous rivers and creeks. The livelihood of locals, however, is generally in a rather poor state, and the area suffers from piracy, insurgencies and frequent disturbances to oil production and distribution. We were well prepared for the journey, our stores were well stocked, and all medicines were checked to ensure we adhered to the national regulations. The passage from the Escravos river entrance to Koko is about 60 Nm, and the waters at the entrance to Escravos and when entering Nana Creek are very shallow and difficult. Our pilot Mr. Bay Tobi, or code name Bravo Tango, was a very polite and knowledgeable man, an excellent choice by our agent. The upriver passage took six hours due to the speed restrictions in the shallows. There are plenty of small villages around the river and the creek, and when the locals spot vessels approaching they jump in their canoes hoping for whatever gifts from the crews. The pilot told us that because of pollution there is very little fish in the river system. At Koko, more than thirty officials from the health authorities, customs, federal security, port security, army, navy, shippers’ representatives and ship chandlers (who turned out to be a local community representative as well) came on board. This took a considerable time to deal with, but finally we got all necessary clearances. The night Steaming up the Benin River 14 ODFJELL Quarterly March 2005
The pilot and bridge crew. From left: Pilot Bay Tobi, AB Peniata Lupei, C/O Petar Alexandrov, Captain Stoil Dimov. Greeting the locals. proceeded more or less peacefully with cargo operations. The next day, we were visited by the drug enforcement agency, immigrations, army intelligence and again customs, navy, army and local community representatives. When the fog cleared about 0900 h the next morning, the pilot embarked and we received the final cargo and clearance papers. After four hours river passage, due to less draft and higher speed, we left Nigerian waters and could enjoy the nice Christmas dinner we really deserved after a hectic but successful call at Koko. Entering Nana Creek. The Total Berth at Koko. ODFJELL Quarterly March 2005 15
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Company Magazine for the Odfjell Group - March 2005

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