Nigerian shipowners have revealed that they are spending between $15m and $20m each year on repairing their ships abroad, despite the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency’s (NIMASA) acquisition of a N50bn floating dock.
Mr Aminu Umar, President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, told our correspondent in Lagos recently that ship repairs have been a major challenge for operators.
Recall that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency 2018 acquired a N50bn modular floating dock, which has been laying fallow at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard, Wilmot Point, Victoria Island, Lagos.
A floating dry dock is one of the five types of dry docks used for ship repairs. It is a submersible platform designed and used to repair vessels.
The government decided at the inception of President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) administration to acquire a floating dock to improve the country’s ship repair capacity and transform the maritime industry to generate wealth and jobs.
Umar, who was a former president of the Nigerian Indigenous Shipowners Association, said members of the association took their vessels to some African countries for repairs.
He added that Nigerians owned 80 per cent of vessels repaired in countries such as Senegal, Ghana, and South Africa, among others.
