The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, has taken over areas at the Continental Shipyard that the Nigerian Ports Authority had leased to it for the purpose of running the modular floating dock.
According to Vanguard, the sites comprise but are not restricted to, the dolphin jetty, the waterfront of the jetty adjoining the slipway, an administrative complex, a construction, welding, and mechanical workshop, and a civil maintenance workshop.
Dr. Bashir Jamoh, Director General of NIMASA, said during the handover ceremony that the agency’s effort to deploy the modular floating dockyard had reached its conclusion with the transfer of the Continental Shipyard to NIMASA.
He gave stakeholders the assurance that the modular floating dockyard will soon be deployed because all grey areas between NIMASA and the NPA had been resolved. He was represented by the Head, Public, Private Partnership, PPP, Unit, Mr. Kabiru Diso.
He said, “The modular floating dockyard is a national asset, and we are extremely near to the deployment of the modular floating dock now that all potential conflicts between the NPA and NIMASA have been resolved.
“The government now spends foreign currency on dry-docking vessels outside the borders of Nigeria, thus our goal is to domicile dry-docking of vessels in Nigeria.”
He claimed that the floating dock will also give both direct and indirect jobs to Nigerians, with a multiplier effect on capacity development.
Recall that the Outline Business Case for the operation of the floating dock had been certified as compliant by the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission, which also described it as sustainable and bankable.
The modular floating dock, which can accommodate vessels weighing up to 10,000 metric tonnes, would be operated through a public-private partnership.
