‘New modular floating dockyard to yield $100 million yearly’

NIMASA plans to float anti-piracy bill

Nigeria is on the verge of saving over $100 million yearly from the acquisition of the fifth largest modular floating dockyard in Africa being acquired by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

The Director-General, NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, who disclosed this yesterday at a function to mark his one-year in office, said the facility would be coming in very soon from Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the potential to transform Nigeria’s maritime industry, generate wealth and create employment

The modular floating dockyard, measuring 125metres by 35metres with three in-built cranes, transformers and a number of ancillary facilities, is being built by one of the world’s largest ship building firms, Damen Shipyards and its partner, NIRDA, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Peterside said: “This will be a direct savings from the dry docking of vessels operating in Nigeria, which are mostly done outside the country at the moment. It is our desire to partner with the private sector to run the dockyard.

“This is coming as the Presidency granted approval to the agency to acquire assets that will be deployed at strategic locations to enhance its ability to improve the safety of vessels within the nation’s maritime domain.”

He said NIMASA now operates 24-hour surveillance system, which captures all vessels in the Nigerian maritime domain irrespective of weather conditions.Besides, Peterside said the agency was currently working out modalities to float an anti-piracy bill. He said the bill is currently before the Ministry of Justice.