Indigenous ship owners have declared support for the proposed construction of a shipyard in Brass Island, Bayelsa State for the maintenance and repair services of cargo vessels, oil tankers and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers.
The Nigerian Ship owners have also applauded the move by the Minister of Petroleum resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, to construct the shipyard in Bayelsa
Recall that, at a recent meeting of heads of maritime agencies, the Director General NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh informed that the process for the deployment of the floating dock will be completed soon noting that the floating dock will be handed over to Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) in the next two months.
The ship owners who spoke at different times to Shipping Position Daily noted that the construction of the shipyard is a step in the right direction, even as they said it will give room for competition and bring about improvement in the numbers of shipyards in the country.
According to the ship owners, presently there is no shipyard in the country that can maintain or repair NLNG vessels, not even the N50billion Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) floating dock.
The ship owners noted that many of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) ships still go as far as Ivory Coast and Senegal for repairs.
Reacting to the proposed shipyard in Bayelsa, a former President of Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) Engr. Greg Ogbeifun said the proposed shipyard is a welcome development that will give room for competition and improvement of the country’s shipping yards.
Ogbeifun who also owns a shipyard in Port Harcourt, Rivers State noted that what the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has done has been the clamour of ship owners for years with no meaningful results, he stated that the proposed shipyard will save the country millions of dollars that is spent on repair of vessels outside the country.
When asked if the proposed shipyard could threaten the revenue that should have accrued to NIMASA through its floating dock, Ogbeifun said that the NIMASA floating dock cannot handle NLNG ships, even as he lamented that for over two years since the floating dock was acquired, the agency is yet to put it to use.
"I like the initiative, we have been talking about our own (Ministry of Transport) for forever and nothing has happened, so if they (Ministry of Petroleum) have come up from their own ministry and make it happen, we should clap for them
"And It won’t affect them, can NIMASA floating dock carry LNG ships, since two years they got the floating dock, what have they done with it?
“Because they are not doing anything, that does not mean others should not do", he said.
Also speaking to our correspondent, the President Nigeria Indigenous Ship Owners Association (NISA) Mr. Aminu Umar noted that there is no ship yard in the country that can take big vessels like the NLNG ships.
He also suggested that the NIMASA floating dock should be merged with the proposed oil and gas shipyard, urging the agency to move its floating dock down to Bayelsa state so as to compliment the proposed shipyard.
In his words: "I think it's about the capacity, I think the new one will be for bigger vessels; the present capacity that we have cannot cater for that, there are some sizes of ships that the floating dock cannot be able to service, but I also think the floating yard NIMASA have can also be taken to Bayelsa, remember that it is a floating yard, so it can be moved.
"It’s a good thing, if it will be put in place as quickly as possible, I would suggest the NIMASA floating dock be put together with that of NCDMB”.
On his part, the chairman, Nigeria Ship Registry Engr. Emmanuel Ilori also stated that the country lacks shipyards that can handle big ships, while also confirming that the N50 billion acquired floating dock by NIMASA cannot handle the big NLNG vessels, he said the move by the Minister for Petroleum Resources and NCMDB is a move in right direction.
"The only big dock yard that we have at the moment is the one in Nigerdock, after that, the rest are all small facilities, so if they are going to build a ship yard in the oil and gas community, I personally believe that it is a step in right direction”
"At the moment most people still go and dry-dock as far as Ivory Coast, some people go as far as Senegal, so for now we don't have the capacity in Nigeria. I believe setting up the ship yard is a step in right direction.
"The floating dock by NIMASA it's not big enough to handle NLNG ships.
"Even if they dry dock one ship in a month, that's 12 vessels, so how many vessels do we need to dry dock in Nigeria in a year, it's quite a lot, so the capacity it's not big enough".
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