Pirates attack the Bonga
Published Date:
27 June 2008
By Terry Kelly
SOUTH Tyneside workers have been caught up in a daring armed raid by pirates on the giant Bonga oil platform in Nigeria.
Three people were injured when the Bonga, which became the biggest vessel ever to sail through the piers at South Shields in 2002, came under attack.
The Gazette understands tradesmen, from Hebburn and South Shields, have recently been based on the Bonga platform, sited 85 miles into the Gulf of Guinea, where oil production was shut down by speed-boating gunmen.
Night raiders stormed the 12-storey Royal Dutch Shell facility, forcing workers to take refuge behind a blast wall.
Members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed responsibility for the raid, which saw the loss of about 200,000 barrels of oil.
An American worker was kidnapped during the raid, but later released.
MEND, which tried to blow up the Bonga platform's computer system, is demanding energy companies remove all foreign staff from Nigeria.
Hebburn maritime expert Kevin Blair said: "Hebburn lads have been working on the Bonga recently, including a pipefitter and welder.
"I have heard workers from Tyneside are under strict instructions not to venture away from these facilities, because these raids in Nigeria are becoming more frequent."
One worker, from South Shields, who recently returned home after a stint on the Bonga, said "We've been advised not to comment on the situation."
More than 200 foreign hostages have been seized since an upsurge in violence began in the Niger Delta in early 2006.
Hundreds of people gathered to watch the mighty Bonga edge through the piers at South Shields, on November 16, 2002.
As big as three football pitches, the 300,000-tonne floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), created up to 1,600 jobs during a refit contract lasting almost a year, at the former Amec yard, Wallsend.
Shell spokesman Rainer Winzenried told the Gazette: "This was a serious incident. There was some shooting involved, three Shell people were slightly injured and an American on a supply ship was taken hostage, and then released.
"Production was shut down on the Bonga, which has a capacity of 225,000 barrels a day, and has not yet resumed.
"Police are still investigating the incident, which is of concern not just to Shell, but to Nigeria in general. Many of the people on the platform are in fact Nigerians.
"These protesters are supposed to be pro-environment, but they blow up pipelines and cause heavy spills and threaten people. I would not call them freedom fighters."
