Escravos River
The Escravos River is a river in southern Nigeria, close to the city of Warri.Escravo is a Portuguese word meaning "slaves" and the area was one of the main conduits for slave trade between Nigeria and the United States in the 18th century. The Escravos is a distributary of the Niger River, flowing for 57 kilometres (35 mi), to its mouth in the Bight of Benin of the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Chevron, a major US oil company, has its main Nigerian oil production facility at the mouth of the Escravos River. This oil terminal pumps approximately.
The Escravos is linked by a maze of interconnected waterways to the Forcados, Warri, Benin, and Ethiope rivers.
The Nigerian Ports Authority (N.P.A.) granted dredging of Escravos River primarily to expand the waterways so as to make way for bigger vessels which will eventually boost the economic activity of the region and benefit the country at large.