The words of Benjamin Franklin “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, clearly defines what makes OPEANS Nigeria Limited– a leading safety training provider to the African Oil & Gas industry stand out among its peers in their 35 years of existence.
Established on 16th February, 1988 by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under Registration of Business Names Act, 1961, as OPEANS Enterprises Nigeria and later incorporated under the Company and Allied Matters Act 1990 as a Limited Liability Company by shares on 14th March, 1995 with RC No. 267722 with the name, OPEANS Nigeria Limited, the centre is the pioneers of survival trainings in Nigeria.
OPEANS started her first business in the same year (1988) with Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited by training SPDC Swamp/Offshore personnel on Personal Survival Swimming and Advanced Swimming/Lifesaving, Aquatic First Aid/General First Aid, certification of SPDC personnel and contractors on Survival Swimming. These services were later extended to other Oil and Gas producing and servicing companies the same year.
With their state-of-the-art training facilities located in Rivers and Delta States, the trainees are given a simulation of what can be encountered in a real-life scenario. OPEANS help the industry shape their working environment by making their people work safer as they’re taken through the journey of in-depth knowledge, skills, ability and right attitude to operate safely and effectively in their workplace.
With a clean and well-maintained training swimming pool, training ground, conducive classrooms, training equipment and materials, OPEANS guarantee safe and conducive environment for their trainees.
Staffed by qualified professionals who have been trained by professional bodies including; Royal Lifesaving Society Commonwealth, Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), Robert Gordon Institute of Technology (RGIT) Aberdeen and OSHAcademy, explains why OPEANS have never lost a soul in their over 3 decades of existence.
Accredited by the NUPRC Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (formerly known as DPR) OPEANS Warri training centre has a swimming pool which is 13.5ft deep and 30meteres wide which the Nigeria Military use it for their training (water manoeuvre).
Guiding Journalists in a tour of the two training centres, the Executive Director of OPEANS, Dr. Ben Nwoye, said they deliver world class safety training experience to men and women in the oil and gas industry, Maritime, Sea fearers, Military, and Para- military organizations and their facilities are at par with any training centre anywhere in the world.
Explaining the uniqueness of their facilities, Dr. Nwoye said; “We have a Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) module which is designed and manufactured by Safetech; an European front line underwater safety equipment expert. The HUET module has the capacity of simulating with near real – life accuracy helicopter crash in Water bodies, such as river, sea or lake.
“The module is designed to accommodate four passengers and a pilot. It is equipped with 4-point belt and safety emergency release burtons, pointing out that it is also designed to self–retract in the event of serious emergency to prevent death or serious bodily injuries.
Dr. Nwoye, while demonstrating how some of the hi-tech facilities are used, said ”OPEANS is in partnership with Secuma; a front-line water sports safety expert to produce the best economically fitted and shock absorber sports helmet known to mankind. Additionally, Secuma, produced the inflatable lifejackets in use in our training centres.”
Speaking further, he said that the company have trained thousands of people and have also employed people across the country from all the ethnic nationalities.
In the words of HRH Igwe Charles E. Nwoye, Chairman, Board of Directors, the story of OPEANS which was founded in 1988 by him won’t be complete without the mention of his late brother, Oliver (whose initial ‘O’ is the beginning of the name OPEANS). Igwe Nwoye narrated how the search for a swimming pool for training at Omagwa, Rivers state.
OPEANS is an acronym for
O- Oliver
P- Pius
E- Egbo
A- Amurri
N- Nwoye
S- Sons
