The multi-million dollar floating Dockyard owned by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) which arrived in the country recently will save the country millions of dollars in capital flight once operational noting that efforts are being made to create enabling environment for the growth of indigenous participation in shipping.
The Director General of the agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside who made this known during an interactive session with Journalists in Lagos on Wednesday, said that the facility which would be operated on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model will be located at a facility of the Nigerian Navy.
The NIMASA DG said that the Floating Dockyard would commence operations immediately after the commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari. He added that when fully operational, Nigerian shipowners and their foreign counterparts would no longer need to take their vessels outside the country for dry docking.
According to him, “Nigeria loses up to $100m annually simply because when our shipowners need to dry dock their vessels, they mostly take them to neighboring countries like Ghana and Cameroun thus spending avoidable forex. When this facility is fully operational it has the capacity to drydock any vessel in-country and save the much needed foreign exchange”.
Speaking further, Dr. Peterside noted that the facility would be operated in conjunction with the builders as technical partners. He also assured that it will create thousands of jobs for teeming Nigerian youths as well as provide training opportunities for seafarers, adding that the NIMASA floating dockyard would also be available as a training facility for the students of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko and other maritime institutions in the Country.
“We are planning to ensure that the permanent location of this facility would benefit our students for training and we have also engaged the builders to manage the facility for a one year period at a Naval facility” while further arrangements are being worked out”, he said.
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