The Menace of Fuel Tankers

The prevalence of tankers conveying aviation fuel, known as Jet A1at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos has become a threat to safety and a hindrance to vehicular traffic around the airport. In 2013, a study carried out by FAAN indicated that if there was explosion around the airport caused by highly inflammable vehicles, known as tankers, it would consume thousands of lives with unquantifiable collateral damage to property both at the airport and adjoining areas as the airport facility is located very close to highly populated communities. It was this report that called for the urgent need to relocate the tankers to an area that seemed to insulate them from busy vehicular and human movement. But today, they are not only back at the airport road but they have taken about 40 per cent space along the road which empties into the international terminal. THISDAY also learnt that some of the vehicles that now park along the road are not only the ones laden with aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, but others conveying premium motor spirit; so invariably the airport road has become a parking space for these tankers! Less than 10 meters to where these tankers park is located Sahara oil tank farm, which has capacity for over four million litres of aviation fuel. Also less than 10 meters to the area where the tankers park are two filling stations that sell fuel products with underground tanks. A senior FAAN official told THISDAY that the tankers most often drive against traffic around the busy NAHCO bus stop at the airport thereby causing gridlock and chaos. While driving towards the airport, motorists get confused when they see tankers driving from the opposite side and approaching them fiercely from the same road in a dual carriageway. “What is really saddening is that many of the tankers do not have any business with aviation fuel. This is the reason we are saying that government should revive the pipeline that conveys fuel from the Ejigbo depot to the airport in order to avert any calamity that may be caused by these tankers one day. With the rate these tankers are exploding ours may be a tragedy waiting to happen; unless something is done urgently,” the FAAN official said. Last Monday afternoon, some of the tankers coming from the international airport terminal literally invaded the same road with vehicles going towards the terminal. This caused a gridlock as the tankers pushed in from the opposite direction along with protocol vehicles and buses. Despite the presence of the police and traffic warden officials, that junction has become notorious for avoidable traffic jam. Some airport users have said the tankers constitute danger in that part of the airport because in the night when there is poor lighting, there had been occasions when vehicles heading to the international airport terminal rammed on these stationary vehicles, causing maximum damage and even death. In many countries of the world tankers conveying aviation fuel are rarely seen at the airport; rather, bowsers that source fuel from hydrants are seen at the airside of the airport fueling aircraft. Hydrants are connected to fuel tank farms by pipelines so the ubiquitous tankers that criss-cross airport roads in Lagos do not exist in major countries outside Nigeria. Recently, the Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Captain Nogie Meggison, noted that about 20 years ago, fuel tankers were a rarity at the Lagos airport because the fuel hydrant was functional and the pipeline that connected the hydrants to the Ejigbo depot was still functional and there was so much sanity at the airport then. “Things were better then and I don’t understand why the system has continued to deteriorate. This pipeline could be given out on public private partnership arrangement so that it could be repaired and made functional. This will put an end to the menace of fuel tankers at the airport. Flights are delayed because these vehicles coming from Apapa face traffic gridlock. This problem will come to an end if the pipeline is restored,” Meggison said. Also, a pilot with one of the major domestic airlines said that the whole process of conveying aviation fuel with tankers is totally flawed from the delays due to gridlock, to betting accidents and fire and to the quality of product after it has been stored in the tanker. The pilot disclosed that the quality of the product is sometimes tainted by the rustic body of the tanker. “That is why when the fuel is brought we give it some time and allow the debris to settle before we put it in our aircraft,” he said. On April 9, last year a tanker caught fire at the NAHCO area of the airport very close to the Joint User Hydrant Installation (JUHI) tank farm. Before then there was a time another tanker caught fire near the toll gate along the road linking the domestic terminal to the international terminal. THISDAY spoke to some officials of FAAN, who exasperatedly noted that the agency has made many efforts to rein the excesses of the tanker operators who have a knack for disobeying directives. But they expressed the hope that very soon, construction will start on the airport road by the Lagos state government and the tankers would inevitably vacate the road. The road construction has been approved but time is not yet set for the construction. An insider, however, noted that that was not going to be the solution to the tankers menace because they must find a place to park their trucks at the airport; unless a safer alternative is sought. THISDAY learnt from FAAN official that the tankers had to leave the designated park meant for them because the place was water logged and could stuck their vehicles because of the rains. That was why they have to move and park them along the road. “The problem with the place is that it is not habitable during rainy reason. The truth is that if FAAN repairs the place and use concrete to cover the ground there, the tankers will not agree to pay toll; but it is not the responsibility of FAAN to prepare a parking place for the tankers; it is the responsibility of the oil companies and their association. FAAN has already allocated land to them, so the oil companies should do the concrete base,” the FAAN official said. The solution to this problem, experts suggest, is to stop conveying fuel by road by piping fuel to the hydrants at the airport.