As the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA) plans to deploy its N50 billion modular floating dock, the federal government also eyes to generate N12 billion annually from the facility, saying it will help attain the blue economy objectives of the Tinubu administration.
NIMASA also said the dock will not only arrest capital flight, but also boost the nation’s ship repair capacity and transform Nigeria’s maritime industry for wealth and employment creation.
The dock was acquired in 2018 by NIMASA but has been bogged down by controversies which stalled its deployment.
Available statistics indicate that about 5,000 ships call at the Nigerian ports annually, just as there are about 400 coastal vessels and hundreds of fishing trawlers. These make the business of dry docking potentially lucrative because there is sufficient demand.
Even though the ships are there, there is no facility to meet the demand; hence, dry docking of vessels operating in Nigeria is usually done outside Nigeria. As a result, many Nigerian shipowners go to countries like Ghana, South Africa, Senegal, and Namibia among others to repair their vessels in line with the dictates of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which requires every vessel to dry-dock once in three years in order to retain their safety classification and insurance cover.
Experts also note that the foreign exchange component of dry docking outside Nigeria is in millions of dollars.
However, Daily Sun learnt that the deployment of the modular floating dock will save Nigeria capital flight of over $100 million on yearly basis, generate approximately N1 billion monthly, which will amount to about N12 billion annually and create over 800 direct and indirect jobs.
Putting the floating dock into use will provide a lot of benefits to the maritime industry. This ranges from conserving foreign exchange to providing employment and boosting indigenous capacity, developing shipping, and providing training exposure for students of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, and the Maritime University, Okerenkoko.
Aside revenue generation, the floating dock is expected to develop capacity and provide maintenance facilities for ships and boats in the country and other countries alike. This was what fired up the interest of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola in the floating dock.
Speaking during a recent working visit in Abuja, Oyetola said he was particularly interested in the floating dock project because of its potential to generate employment and stem capital flight.
He, therefore, commended leadership of the NIMASA for the efforts so far in executing its mandate on Nigeria’s maritime domain safety and development.
Oyetola also said the time has come for Nigeria to fully harness its vast potential in the maritime sector, noting that there was a need to ascertain and properly appraise the situation of things with a view of taking practical steps and measures towards addressing them.
According to him, tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, harnessing marine tourism, safety and security are top of the agenda of his administration.
His words: “Today, we have come to see some of the things you told us in Abuja and to properly appraise the situation of things with a view to taking practical steps towards addressing them.
‘‘I am particularly interested in the NIMASA Modular Floating Dock because of its potential to generate employment and stemmed capital flight.
‘‘But we must find a way of ensuring stakeholders’ buy-in, in whatever we do so that we are seen to be working together for the growth and development of Nigeria,” he added.
According to him, management of the resources of Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy entailed proactive, smart and strategic thinking.
He called for the rediscovery, harnessing and packaging of the nation’s maritime resources, including seafoods, in line with all associated international standards and specifications.
To put the facility into use, recently, NIMASA moved the floating dock to a jetty at the Standard Flour Mills in preparation of its movement to the scheduled operational base at the Continental Shipyard, Apapa.
The heavy 50-ton cylindrical spuds, which are for anchoring the dock, are being prepared for installation.
The DG of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh said: “We are moving slowly but steadily to our destination. Today, we are lifting out the cylindrical studs to be prepared for piling at the Continental Shipyard where the Floating Dock is scheduled to commence operations. “These spuds have to be firmly installed before we can tow the Floating Dock there. We assure stakeholders that very soon, Nigeria will save foreign earnings with the commencement of operations of our dock.
“You will recall that The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) leased designated areas at the Continental Shipyard for the operations of the modular floating dock last year.
The areas include; 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.
The project will be run on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement,” he said.
One of the shipowners who spoke with Daily Sun and does not want his name in print said that the deployment of the modular floating dock is overdue for a very long time.
He said since 2018, the facility arrived Nigeria, it has not been put into operations, adding that the nation’s maritime industry has lost billions of dollars as a capital flight for years.
“Do you know that it costs between $1.5 million to $1.8 million to tow a vessel to countries like Singapore for repair while it costs between $300,000 and $500,000 to dry-dock a vessel in the international market, hence the need for NIMASA to deploy modular floating dock in the country as soon as possible.
“There are many business opportunities for the private sector partner that would take charge of managing the floating dock. Presently, Cabotage vessels and other vessels flying Nigerian flags take their ships abroad for repair. But with the coming of a dry-docking facility that is in-country, owners of such vessels would take the advantage of servicing their vessels in Nigeria,” he said.
He insisted that putting the floating dock into use holds serious positive economic implications for the nation’s shipping business, which presently depends on other countries to dry-dock both Nigerian and foreign-flagged vessels that do business on Nigerian waters.
Source- Sun Newspaper/