The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is seeking private sector participation over its forthcoming 5th largest floating dockyard expected in the country soon.

The agency’s Director General, Dr Dakuku Peterside said this in Lagos at the ceremonial launching of 4 acquired 60 Tons Bollard Tug boats by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA.

Dr Peterside explained that the commissioning of the 4 tug boats would no doubt, assist in the daily operations of the NPA and enhance the turn-around time of vessels calling at the ports.

According to him, before now, attention has always been in the recurrent expenditure but with the advent of the current government, focus has shifted to the capital expenditure which is the catalyst to economic growth.

Infrastructure development
“Infrastructure development is very crucial to the growth of the maritime sector and by extension the economy. Particularly, now that the Nigerian Government is diversifying the economy in order to create more jobs and generate revenue, the efforts of the Management of the Ports Authority will go a long way in assisting the government realise its agenda and also help plug revenue leakages now that the country is trying to get out of recession.

“Let me also state here that NIMASA will soon take delivery of the 5th largest modular floating dockyard on the African continent,” he stated.

Dr Peterside said the Dockyard would save government at least, 100 million Dollars annually through 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 and many more are the initiative the agency is putting in place to better the fortunes of the maritime sector,” he explained.

The Nimasa boss assured Nigerians of the agency’s commitment to continue its collaborative efforts with other agencies and parastatals in the maritime sector, to realise their mandate of ensuring a safe maritime domain for business activities to thrive and in line with global best practices.

The Nimasa’s Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Bashir Jamon represented Dr Peterside at the event.