Even as the floating dock operated by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has been dormant for over five years, consuming over N3.5m daily for sheltering, the new management of the agency says it is poised to turn around the comatose facility it to earn about N1bn monthly.
The Director General of NIMASA, Bashir Jamoh, revealed a mind-boggling plan to put the floating dock into use to generate N12bn yearly.
“Presently, the floating dock is at the Naval Dockyard and we are making everything possible to get it to the Continental Shipyard, when the Nigerian Ports Authority would have wound down its operation at the yard,” Jamoh told an appreciative industry audience in Lagos, while reeling out his achievements after 100 days in office.
“The floating dock would no longer be a liability or drain on the agency’s revenue,” the technocrat maintained.
He noted, too, that the agency was also expecting huge employment opportunities from the utilisation of the floating dock.
“Apart from the N1bn monthly the floating dock will generate, we are expecting up to 350 staff engagement and these are the main workers.
“We have five segments comprising cadets in electrical and mechanical segment. Each will provide employment for 75 persons.
“Additionally, the floating dock will be used for sea time. Those who have the expertise in electrical and mechanical will be placed there to have their own time,” he explained.
According to Jamoh, the agency will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with all operators of the oil and gas sector, to take their ship to the floating dock and engage with the managing partner to help manage the dock.
He pointed out that they were filing with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to confirm and approve the Public-Private Partnership arrangement they wanted to embark upon.
“This is something that is like a cash cow and we are looking forward to full operations soon,” Jamoh said.
As regards piracy, he said the synergy they had with the Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Police Force had led to the arrest of 27 suspected criminals, who were now awaiting trial.
Jamoh highlighted lack of coordination and interfacing as the biggest challenge in maritime security, adding that the agency would be harmonising its security platform with that of the NPA and the Navy, to bridge the gap.
He noted that a review of the Cabotage guidelines had been concluded and would be endorsed for transmission to the Ministry of Transportation, for onward transmission to the presidency.
“We are targeting that before October, there will be fast disbursement of the Cabotage Financing Fund,” he said. “The last administration actually played on stakeholders’ intelligence on the issue of Cabotage disbursement, changing goal post several times, at the whims and will of politicians.”
He also said the agency had achieved 85 per cent in its Deep Blue Project, adding that the emergence of the Coronavirus Diseasestalled the deployment of the assets.
“We now have two special mission vessels; 14 out of the 17 fast-intervention vessels have been received. Also, 14 out of the 17 special armoured vehicles have been received.
“The C4i has been operational for over one and a half years and 24 hours in seven days.
“Two special mission aircraft are being expected in August and three special mission helicopters are being expected in January 2021,” he said.
