FG set to construct Bayelsa shipyard

 The Federal Government has engaged China Harbour Engineering Company for the construction of a shipyard in Brass Island, Bayelsa State.

In a statement in Abuja, Saturday, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, said the feasibility study for the project had commenced, adding that when completed, the shipyard would cater for the maintenance and repair services of cargo vessels, oil tankers, and Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, carriers.

The NCDMB disclosed that there are currently over 20,000 ships working for the oil and gas sector in Nigerian waters, with an annual spend of over $600 million in the upstream sector to engage these vessels.

It added that the oil sector spent $3.047 billion on marine vessels between the year 2014 and 2018 and 73 per cent of the total spend went to crew boats, security vessels, diving support vessels and fast supply intervention vessels, adding that other vessels in that category include mooring launch and shallow-draft vessels, he said.

The NCDMB said it would provide funding for the feasibility study as part of its overarching mandate to domicile key oil and gas industry infrastructure and increase retention of industry spend.

The scope of the feasibility study, it explained, includes geotechnical and bathymetric surveys, conducting a market study, ascertaining an optimal construction scale, developing technical proposal and construction plan and estimation of the required investment to bring the project into reality.

It disclosed that the project’s schedule indicates that the site work would be executed within six months while feasibility study would be completed in four months.

Speaking at the meeting to kick-off of the project, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre stated that it will be executed by China Harbour Engineering Company, which had carried out similar projects across the globe as well as in Nigeria.

He said the shipyard project would further develop and harness the nation’s position in the oil and gas value chain and linkage to other sectors of the economy.