The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Bashir Jamoh, has said that the agency will soon deploy the N50bn floating dockyard it purchased.
Jamoh assured maritime stakeholders that the agency’s modular floating dock was in the process of being deployed.
Speaking during a visit to the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, at her office in Lagos, the DG said the agency had concluded arrangements for the deployment of the floating dock.
“I am here to affirm that the modular floating dock has come to stay. We have concluded arrangements for its deployment and operation. The date for its commissioning would be announced soon,” he said.
The NIMASA boss recounted the process of securing the NPA Continental Shipyard for the floating dock as well as getting approval from the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission.
He emphasised that obtaining the approvals was an important preliminary condition because of the need to engage managing partners and ICRC, which is in charge of the mode of operations and Public-Private Partnership arrangement.
In her remarks, Bala-Usman stressed the need to promote the NIMASA local dry dock to the maximum capacity by placing the NPA’s continental shipyard at the agency’s disposal as a preferred location.
She said NPA would enter into agreement with NIMASA on the hand over of the authority’s dockyard, jetty locations and warehouses within the area to facilitate the installation of the floating dock.
“We believe the floating dock is an integral part of the maritime sector and we like to commend NIMASA for starting this. NPA will continue to provide the necessary support as it relates to the aspect of our shareholding within the SPV being guided by the ICRC.
“As it is, NPA has confirmed and reiterated that it will support and hand over those facilities within the next few weeks to enable NIMASA conclude the movement of the modular floating dock from the naval dockyard to the continental dockyard. This is a very welcome development for the sector and we look forward to patronising and using the dockyard facility for our vessels and other vessels of government agencies,” she stated.
