Scorpion Oil Services has been shut down by the Federal Government for conducting offshore activities without authorisation and for breaching the Factories (Diving at Work) Regulations, 2018. The firm was also shut down for failing to follow diving standards.
According to a statement released by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment on Monday, the Director of Factories of the Federation, Lauretta Adogu, and the Chief Inspector of Diving, Julius Ugwala, revealed that a monitoring exercise was carried out to ensure full compliance with Nigeria’s Factories (Diving at Work) Regulations, 2018.
Adogu said the diving operations carried out by the contractor of Scorpion Oil posed a huge threat to divers because they were using inappropriate equipment and unqualified personnel. Also, the firm allegedly disregarded the Local Content Law with its operations fully dominated by foreigners.
The statement read in part, “The operators did not comply with the Factories (Diving at Work) Regulations, 2018. The Regulations stipulate that before any diving operation commences within the Nigerian territorial waters, there must be authorization approval issued by the Director of Factories of the Federation.
“Additionally, the Local Content law says Nigerians should be considered first for such operations, but the operators did not meet that requirement, as the place was filled with expatriates.
“Diving operations must get authorization approval before commencement, and this company has not requested any approval and does not have one.
“The company is being closed for non-compliance to these, and work here has been prohibited.’’
