Amid rising foreign exchange, indigenous shipowners can now heave a sigh of relief as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has taken over the areas leased to it by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) at the Continental Shipyard for the operation of the N50 billion Modular Floating Dock.
LEADERSHIP reports that due to absence of a functional shipyard in Nigeria, local shipowners drydock their vessels in neighboring African countries.
However, the area leased to NIMASA included the dolphin jetty, waterfront of the jetty adjourning the slipway, an administrative block, a construction, welding and mechanical workshop and a civil maintenance workshop, among others.
During the handover ceremony, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said that handover of the Continental Shipyard to NIMASA marks the final lap in the quest of the Agency to deploy the modular floating Dockyard.
The DG who was represented by the Head, Public, Private Partnership, PPP, Unit Mr. Kabiru Diso, assured stakeholders that the Modular Floating Dockyard would soon be deployed since all grey areas between NIMASA and the NPA have been cleared.
“The Modular Floating Dockyard is a national asset and now that all grey areas between the NPA and NIMASA have been addressed, we are very close to the deployment of the Modular Floating Dock.
Our goal is to domicile dry-docking of vessels in the country thus saving the nation foreign exchange currently expended on dry-docking vessels outside the shores of Nigeria. The floating Dock will also provide both direct and indirect employment to Nigerians with a multiplier effect on capacity development.” He said.
The Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission, ICRC, had issued a certificate of compliance for an Outline Business Case (OBC) for the operation of the floating dock, while also describing it as bankable and sustainable.
The Modular Floating Dock, which has the capacity to handle up to 10,000 Metric Tons vessels, would be run on a Public Private Partnership arrangement.
