André Capita told Lusa that STIPAC is currently unaware of the cause of the fire that occurred on Tuesday on the basement deck of the deep-water platform Benguela Belize Lobito Tomboco (BBLT) of the Cabinda Golf Oil Company (Cabgoc), a subsidiary of Chevron, located in Block 14, in the maritime zone of Cabinda.
In a statement, Cabgoc said that, in addition to the 17 injured, four of whom were in serious condition, one person was reported missing, stressing that the cause of the incident is being investigated.
The union leader said that the injured workers are from companies that provide services to Cabgoc, highlighting that, up until now, they have no concrete information about what happened, but there are reports that “there was an explosion, followed by a fire”.
“But another version says that there was no fire, that people were burned by the steam that came out of a burst line, it is not known whether it was gas or crude oil. This is the information we are trying to obtain, so that we can later provide concrete information,” he said.
André Capita, who worked for more than 20 years on oil platforms and rigs, highlighted that this accident demonstrates the dangers involved in the activity of drilling and extracting oil.
According to him, in retirement, when unions and workers demand “certain rights and undignified treatment to which they have been subjected” it has to do with situations like these.
“It is regrettable what happened, we will continue to monitor the situation,” said the STIPAC secretary general, highlighting that the team that deals with work accidents and occupational diseases is working with the provincial services of the General Labor Inspectorate to obtain more information about the disappearance and the causes of the accident.
The union leader stressed that safety rules have been followed, however, the activity itself brings with it several challenges, remembering that “an accident is something unpredictable”.
“Prevention and precautionary measures are implemented with the utmost rigor, but because the operation itself entails many risks, some measures are taken in response to these events. This situation has now occurred, and additional measures must be taken to safeguard against situations of this nature,” he noted.
According to André Capita, the reports from the General Labor Inspectorate to which they have access indicate that accidents and work incidents are frequent in the oil sector, believing that the numbers do not reflect reality, because many workers are not affiliated.
“The reports presented to us by the General Labor Inspectorate, which I doubt are finished reports, reveal that we have had very high work accidents in the oil sector each year and, in these figures presented to us, they also show us the number of fatal victims,” he added.
STIPAC has more than 12 thousand members and represents more than 50 companies in the oil sector.
The accident occurred at a time when the BBLT facility was undergoing annual maintenance as part of a scheduled shutdown activity, with all local production having ceased since the 1st of this month.
The incident occurred at around 3:10 am on the platform's hold deck. According to the company, the situation was quickly controlled after the activation of safety and fire-fighting protocols.
