Fidelia Okafor.

Fifty companies recently submitted bids to partake in the provision of sea worthy Tug boats on charter for the maritime operational requirements of the NNPC in Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt.

The public bid opening event which was held at the Abuja Corporate Headquarters of the Corporation had representatives of the bidding companies in attendance.

Officials of the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, and some members of the civil society were also presnent as observers.

Successful companies would be engaged on a two year term contract in the first instance with an option of renewal for a further one year.

Winners are expected to provide services which include: aiding the berth and un-berth of all ships operating at the NNPC jetties/buoy, logistics support for safe ship-to-ship operations which covers movement of fenders, horses, documents, rigging and unrigging of fenders among others.

Speaking recently at the Public opening of bids, NNPC Group General Manager, Supply Chain Management, Mr. Shehu Liman, said the Management of the Corporation under the watch of Dr. Maikanti Baru was determined to instill and sustain the values of transparency, accountability and integrity in the procurement process.

He noted that apart from providing a level playing space for all stakeholders, the public bid exercise is in conformity with existing Federal Government legislation on procurement which is also in tune with the NNPC standing regulations on procurement to ensure transparency and fairness.

The bid covered services like stand-by and positioning vessels at the Single Point Moring (SPM) buoy among other marine services.

Declaring the event open, Mr. Dalhatu Makama, Group General Manager, Marine Logistics Division of the Corporation, noted that the essence of the bid process was to ensure that companies with the requisite experience in maritime operations are given the opportunity to compete for the available service in a fair and transparent manner.