Minister Orders NIMASA To Deploy N50bn Modular Floating Dock
Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo has ordered the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to deploy modular floating dockyard it acquired for use.
The dockyard was acquired in 2018 to enable ship owners dry-dock their vessels in the country instead of taking them abroad.
The Director-General of the agency, Bashir Jamoh said in Lagos that the Minister described the deployment of the modular dockyard as one of the low hanging fruits he hopes would be delivered to the nation within the next few months.
He said: “When we met last month, the minister made it clear that we need to deploy the modular floating dockyard for the benefit of Nigerians. The truth is that we are working round the clock daily to ensure the dockyard is put to use. We are working closely with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), using lessons from past mistakes, to ensure a productive and sustainable deployment of the modular dockyard.”
The agency’s Assistant Director, Public Relations, Osagie Edwards said in a statement that the director-general had explained that both NIMASA and NPA were set to complete the operationalisation of the floating dockyard with the installation of dolphins and repair of facilities at the NPA Continental Shipyard facility, where the floating dock would be operated from.
According to him, NIMASA had completed the ongoing discussions with its co-partner, NPA and other managing partners to provide the Continental Shipyard for the anchoring of the dockyard.
He explained that the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) was closely providing guidance for the deployment of the national asset on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, adding that the floating dock, would go through an installation process before it starts functioning or be put to use.
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