After years of in-activity, the Federal Government has finally approved the concession of the modular floating dock belonging to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
The approval was contained in a statement by Mrs Manji Yarling, Acting Head, Media and Publicity, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) on Thursday.
The floating dock, which was conceptualised during the regime of Dr Ziakede Akpobolokemi administrationas DG of NIMASA, was expected to serve as a maintenance base for visiting vessels and those domiciled in the country, with aspirations to save about $100m yearly in capital flight; generate employment, and boost local capacity.
The facility, measuring 125 metres by 35 metres, with three in-built cranes, transformers, and a number of ancillary facilities, was built by one of the world’s largest ship-building firms, Damen Shipyards, in collaboration with its partner, National Industrial Research and Development Agency, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for N50bn.
It has been abandoned since it arrived in Nigeria in 2018.
But, according to the ICRC statement, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved three Public Private three Partnership (PPP) Projects to be executed in the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). One of them is that of the floating dock.
Giving details, he said approved by FEC was the management contract to Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT) the Floating Dry Dock (FDD) of NIMASA.
“The FDD is for the repair of Cabotage vessels.
“The concessionaire, J. Marine Logistics Limited, is to manage the Modular/Floating Dry Dock for 15 years.
“Total revenue accruing to NIMASA for the 15 years concession period is 65.6 million dollars (N27.2 billion).
When fully implemented, the project is expected to create over 800 direct and indirect jobs.”
Ohiani said beyond revenue generation, the project was also expected to create jobs, develop capacity and provide maintenance facilities for ships and boats.
Yarling said the three projects, under the regulatory guidance of the ICRC, were projected to generate over 1.1 billion dollars to the Federal Government during the concession period.
She said the projects included the Eastern Offshore Waste Reception Facility, Central/Western Offshore Waste Reception Facility and a Floating Dry Dock.
Yarling said the projects were approved by FEC following the issuance of Full Business Case Certificate of Compliance (FBC) by the PPP regulatory body, the ICRC.
She said the Director-General, ICRC, Michael Ohiani issued the FBCs for the Offshore Waste Reception Facilities (OWRF) projects.
According to her, Ohiani said the move demonstrated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to the environmental well-being of coastal communities and offshore fishermen.
“The essence of the approvals by FEC is for the OWRF to put in place a standard facility for use in Nigeria’s international waters, in compliance with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) 1973/1978.”
Ohiani said the goal of the proposed partnership was to protect the offshore environment and provide a visible deterrent for offshore polluters from a surveillance point of view.
He said it was also to reduce the current level of pollution to the benefit of offshore fishermen and coastal communities.
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The director-general said the OWRF projects would essentially help keep the seas and oceans clean.
“Each facility, when completed, would be adequate to fully meet the needs of ships and other installations regularly making use of the facilities, and contribute to the improvement of the marine environment.
“They will allow for the ultimate disposal and discharge of wastes from ships and other installations in an environmentally friendly way,” Ohiani said.
He said more details on the Eastern OWRF showed that the Design, Finance, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer (DFBOMT) PPP model would be adopted with XPO Marine Services Limited as the concessionaire for an initial period of 10 years.
“The projected total revenue from Eastern OWRF for the entire concession period due to Federal Government based on revenue sharing ratios is 279.4 million dollars.
“The projected total revenue for the entire concession period from the Central and Western zones due to Federal Government, based on the revenue sharing ratios, is 765.2 million dollars.
“The concessionaire for the Central and Western OWRF is African Circle Pollution Waste Management Limited and the concession period is also 10 years.”
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