27-Dec-2005 -- NAGECO (North African Geophysical Exploration Company) works in the seismic industry as a geophysical seismic sub contractor to the main oil companies that work in Libya. The confluence team that recorded this point works with NAGECO Crew 201. This is a mobile crew and travels with a totally self sufficient camp from prospect to prospect in the search for oil.

We left camp on a cold December morning at 07:00 a.m. and had to travel 97 km to the confluence point we had chosen the night before. This was a shorter distance than had been travelled to other DCPs, but this time we had to drive into the dunes of the Eastern Sand Sea, which are a part of the Libyan Sahara Desert.

For safety purposes on all our visits to confluence points, we had used two four-wheel-drive vehicles, but for this visit we had to pay strict attention to our equipment and procedures. The vehicles were equipped with two spare tyres each, tow ropes for pulling each other out of soft sand if needed, and survival kits. The survival equipment consisted of the usual flares, food and water, and first aid etc. In addition to these items a satellite phone was taken to call our base camp for help in any emergency.

The dunes proved to be not as demanding on the drivers as was envisaged and with care being taken when descending the steep slip faces on the dune ridges the team arrived at the DCP at 9:45 a.m.

Photos were taken and the minimum time was spent sightseeing, as it was important to be out of the dunes before night came. Once darkness had descended we would have to stop driving, as it is very dangerous to drive in the dunes at night. Luckily, no problems were encountered leaving the dunes, and the team got back to camp safely.