Shipside Drydock Company said, it is mitigating drydocking for greener shipping in the country.
The firm stated this to commemorate the World Maritime Day, which is being celebrated on the last Thursday of every September, hence, was celebrated yesterday.
The firm, it stressed, has continued to raise the bar in the shipping industry through its contribution to boosting indigenous capacity, conservation of foreign exchange and promoting new technologies for a greener marine environment at both the manufacturing and administrative levels, with its state-of-the-art dockyard operating a 5000-ton capacity floating dock, measuring 110 meters in length, with external and internal beams of 32 and 26 meters, respectively, located at the Okirika Creek, Port Harcourt.
With the capacity of the Shipside Dry-Dock dockyards and a few standard technologies that have already been developed for use, the firm stated that its objective of building a ‘green ship’ will be accomplished in compliance with the new environmental rules and regulations while reducing carbon footprints.
Shipside floating dockyards, it pointed out, are a cost-saver for ship owners as the rate at which they tow their vessels abroad for repairs is being reduced, adding that, “with over 400 vessels serviced by Shipside since it began operations, ship owners have stopped going abroad for dry-docking due to the increase in demand for ship repair and maintenance.”
Apart from drydocking indigenous vessels, Shipside drydock said, it has recorded a milestone in rendering services to international clients such as: T1 Marine Services, Depthwize Nigeria Limited, Damen Services, Bourbon Interoil Nigeria Limited, Nautic Africa.
“This is a gold mine that has been tapped to grow the industry, save scarce foreign exchange (FX) for the country, and is also linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDGs 13 and 14 on climate action and the sustainable use of oceans, seas, and marine resources; SDG 9 on industry, innovation, and infrastructure; SDG 8 on decent work; and SDG 17 on partnership for goals,” a statement from the company pointed out.