South African firm to establish ship yard in Nigeria

Southern African Shipyard has indicated interest in developing a shipyard in the country. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Prasheen Maharaj who led a delegation to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency in Lagos explained that ship building was a major source of employment for artisans such as welders, electricians, carpenters and technicians.
He added that ship building had a multidisciplinary field.
Maharaj described their venture into the Nigerian maritime industry as that of partnership.
He said: “We will like to see ourselves as partners rather than investors. As partners, we seek more protection and minimum guarantee from NIMASA for our investment. Our goal is to create employment for Nigerians and ultimately add appreciable value to the nation’s economy.”
The team inspected facilities at the Naval Dockyard in Lagos, before proceeding to Warri and PortHarcour for further feasibility studies.
Southern African Shipyard is the biggest shipbuilding firm in South Africa. It has the capacity to construct thug boats, vessels up to 30 meters in length, Yatch which are as long as 95 meters in length and also construct naval vessels.
In a statement by Ms ego Nwokocha, head, Public Relations, the Director General of NIMASA, Mr Temisan Omatseye urged the firm to commence immediate operations in the country by providing ship repair services before graduating to ship building.
He also added that the project will develop both human capacity and physical facilities for the Nigerian maritime sector.
Omatseye told the delegation that the agency was needed patrol boats, barges and passenger vessels.
He explained that building a shipyard in Nigeria will be a criterion for selecting the company to supply the patrol boats to NIMASA.
He also announced a zero tax level incentive for any company desirous of building shipyard in Nigeria.
The director general explained that the Nigerian economy operated an open market system which allows multiple participation.
Omatseye said: “We cannot exclude other participants. We want people to come to Nigeria and grow to the stage of building Very Large Crude Carriers, VLCC, LNG Vessels, and Large Tankers. We have a very vibrant market so we cannot restrict participation. We will guarantee your political risk by assuring you of stability in government policies. However, we cannot guarantee your commercial risk. But I can assure you that the Nigerian market has the potentials to absorb all your services. An example is your colleague from South Africa, the MTN Group who came to Nigeria in 2001 with a projection to sell 30,000 lines in 6 months and ended up selling over 1,500,000 lines in 3 months.”
He described the Nigerian maritime sector as key to the development of the Nigerian economy. He informed them that the services of the South African shipyard(SAS) will play an important role in the vessel replacement programme of the Agency. He also expressed optimism that the coming to Nigeria of the SAS will greatly enhance manpower development in the Nigerian maritime sector.