The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo has charged the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to ensure prompt deployment of the Modular Floating Dockyard acquired by the agency sometime ago.
The agency’s director-general, Dr. Bashir Jamoh who disclosed this while speaking with the media in Lagos, said that the minister described the deployment of the dockyard as one of the low-hanging fruits he hopes would be delivered to the nation within the next few months.
“When we met with the minister last month, he made it clear that we need to deploy the Modular Floating Dockyard for the benefit of Nigerians. The truth is that we are working round the clock daily to ensure the dockyard is put to use. We are working closely with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) using lessons from past mistakes, to ensure a productive and sustainable deployment of the Modular Dockyard.
Jamoh said that both NIMASA and NPA are set to complete the operationalisation of the NIMASA Modular Floating Dockyard, with the installation of dolphins and repair of facilities at the NPA Continental Shipyard facility, where the floating dock would be operated from.
He noted that NIMASA has completed the ongoing discussions with NPA and other managing partners to provide the continental shipyard for the anchoring of the dockyard.
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) is closely guiding the deployment of the national asset on a public-private partnership (PPP) model, adding that the floating dock needs to go through an installation process before it starts functioning or being put to use.
