Three years after, N50bn NIMASA floating dock remains idle, untested

When, in 2018, the management of NIMASA procured a floating dock for about N50bn, it was expected to generate N1 billion monthly or N12 billion yearly, when fully operational. Three years down the line, the Floating Dock has remained idle, virtually doing nothing, writes TOLA ADENUBI.

First introduced in the 1990’s, the floating dock system quickly rose in popularity, thanks to its durability and configurations. Among some few features that have helped the floating dock stand out include, but are not limited to, its easy and quick installation/assembly pattern; ability to perfectly adjust to different water levels caused by tides or seasonal variations, floods, droughts; its fully configurable and adaptable system which can be anchored in any body of water and attached to any existing structure, no matter the conditions; its ability to add and remove new sections, or to completely change its shape and usage; and its durability and resistant to pollution or  ultraviolet rays.

With most ships that call at Nigerian ports having to visit neighbouring countries for dry docking services, the acquisition of the floating dock by NIMASA was seen as a master stroke at that time, since it would be saving the country huge foreign exchange revenue earnings running into several millions of dollars yearly through the provision of dry docking services.

Therefore, great was the excitement among maritime stakeholders when in 2018, the world’s largest ship building firms, Damen Shipyards and its partner, NIRDA, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands delivered a modular floating dock to NIMASA. The floating dock which measured 125 metres by 35 metres with three in-built cranes, transformers and a number of ancillary facilities was expected to save the country huge foreign exchange earnings lost when vessels that come to Nigerian ports have to visit neighbouring countries for dry docking services.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), every vessel undergoes dry-docking once every three years in order to retain their safety classification and insurance cover. It costs between $300,000 and $500,000 to dry-dock a vessel, according to prevailing international rates. On the average, 5,000 ships, 400 active coastal vessels and several hundreds of fishing trawlers call at Nigerian ports annually, with all of them getting dry docking services elsewhere.

However, three years after the agency took delivery of the modular floating dock, the dry docking facility has remained idle, thereby losing out on huge revenue earnings that should have accrued into the nation’s coffers.

 

Unfulfilled assurances

During a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in June 2020, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, assured that the floating dock should be operational by the end of July 2020. The NIMASA DG also said that the facility would employ hundreds of Nigerians directly and also earn huge amounts in revenue for the country.

“We are finalizing arrangements with the NPA to get a permanent berth for the floating dock and by the end of July, this facility should be operational. The interesting thing is that, aside earning a huge amount of revenue, it also has the capacity to employ over 300 Nigerian youths directly,” Bashir Jamoh had said in June 2020.

Over six months after those assurances, nothing has been said or heard again about the floating dock. Question marks abound in the maritime sector whether this might just turn out to be another white elephant.

 

Incurring huge rent charges

For the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), the floating dock is gradually becoming a national embarrassment because NIMASA has been paying huge rent charges to the Nigerian Navy for keeping the facility within their dockyard in the last three years.

Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, President of SOAN, Dr. Mkgeorge Onyung explained that what has happened to the floating dock is down to the fact that no stakeholder or ship-owner was consulted before the facility was procured by NIMASA. According to the SOAN President, “SOAN is currently suggesting an idea to NIMASA concerning the floating dock.

“As I speak to you, NIMASA is paying the Nigerian Navy huge sums of money to keep the floating fock. This is wrong. An agency of government is not supposed to pay another agency of government money for a national asset. For nearly two years, NIMASA has been paying the Navy huge money to help them keep the floating dock, and the facility has not been of any benefit to our shipping sector. Of what use is the money NIMASA is paying the Navy? So we want to work with NIMASA to salvage the situation on the Floating Dock.

“Ship owners who are supposed to be benefiting from the floating dock now see it as a problem to the maritime industry because the facility is sitting down there idle, doing nothing. We are now thinking of proffering a solution that will be a win-win for everybody and save the country the embarrassment. The floating dock has become an embarrassment, so we want to proffer solutions to NIMASA. We want to engage NIMASA in such a way that we can find a solution to the current situation the country finds itself concerning the Floating Dock.

“We were not consulted when this floating dock was procured, no ship owner was consulted. That is where NIMASA made a mistake. The agency bought equipment that is not of use to anybody due to non-utilisation. The floating dock has not been utilized at all since purchase. That is why we are set to make a suggestion to NIMASA in order to enhance shipping development and ship repairs.”

 

Misplaced priority

For the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), the procurement of a modular floating dock by NIMASA was a misplaced priority that shouldn’t have happened. Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, President of NAMM, Captain Tajudeen Alao, explained that instead of dabbling into the ownership of a floating dock, NIMASA ought to have backed some private organizations in the ownership and operation of the facility.

According to Captain Alao, “First of all, it was unfortunate that NIMASA dabbled into such a venture of procuring a floating dock. This is entirely outside the scope of the agency. The Shipping Act of 1987 is quite clear on this; the agency is to promote shipping not dabble into shipping. Also the Cabotage Act of 2003 is clear on the roles of NIMASA as regards shipping, NIMASA is to support shipping with funding through the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), not to partake in the shipping business.

“Moving forward since the deed has been done, NIMASA should be ready to let go of the floating dock to private operators. The agency should allow private operators to operate the facility while it gives the necessary backing, otherwise, the government will continue to spend money on wasteful ventures. For the past three years, the facility has been lying idle, doing nothing and NIMASA has been paying the Navy for keeping the facility safe and intact. Economically, this is wasteful. NIMASA can auction it or give it to private operators to run.”

 

Attendant revenue losses

Before NIMASA ventured into the acquisition of a modular floating dock, Nigeria boasted of only a handful of land-based dockyards, majority of them not functioning optimally.  Investigations have shown that the situation has not changed even as of 2021.  As expected, Nigerian ship owners have been full of lamentations that there is no dry docking facility that could handle a 30,000 ton oil tanker in the country. Thus, approximately 500 coastal vessels have continued to go to neighbouring Ghana, Duala and Robins Bay from Nigerian ports for dry-docking services yearly.

As stated by the former Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside when receiving the modular floating dock in 2018, “This is the fifth largest floating dock in Africa and would enable Nigerian ship owners dry dock in-country, thereby saving over $100 million annually for the national economy.”

With Dakuku Peterside gone as DG NIMASA and the incumbent DG, Bashir Jamoh almost a year in office, the plan of the agency to save over $100 million annually for the national economy remains a pipe dream as vessel owners still leave Nigerian ports for neighbouring ports when in need of dry docking services while the nation’s modular floating dock drifts away in anchorage doing nothing.

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