How FG Imported Dolphins to Clip Missing N50 Billion Floating Dock

By Tolulope Oke

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency  (NIMASA) says the Federal government (FG) imported dolphins to clip the floating dock from the Netherlands as they could not be sourced locally.

Speaking in an interview, the Director-General, NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, explained that the agency saw the modular floating dock belonging to Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) working, with the dolphins standing. In a bid to collaborate with the NPA, Jamoh stated that they had a meeting with the NPA and were contemplating whether the people that managed their floating dock will manage NIMASA’s. However, he revealed it is no more.

In his words “We came and saw the modular floating dock belonging to NPA working, with the dolphins standing. Today, it is no more. We had a meeting with the NPA and we were contemplating whether the people that managed their floating dock will manage ours, I told them that they killed their own, and that they can’t kill my own, we learned from that particular arrangement.”

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He said that it took the agency eight months to convince the regulatory authorities to get approval to commence operations of the floating dock in Lagos instead of the Niger-Delta.

“Now, as we are talking, I am just coming back from Abuja to get the consent and agreement of the people that will give us the location where we can place the floating docks. Up till now, we have not got a location. And then, the other thing is that it has been there since 2018, nobody has worked on it, started it or tested it. So, we have to bring the engineers several times to come and work on it, including the Isrealis.

“Secondly, on the location, the first thing that came was the issue of going to the Niger-Delta, we discovered that we don’t have the draft; the issue of commercialisation also came to the fore, people don’t have the confidence to go there and so many other things. On this alone, we spent eight months convincing the authorities to give us the approval to commence the operation of this floating dock in Lagos,” he said.

The Dakuku Peterside-led administration conceptualized and purchased the floating dock with the intention of using it as a servicing hub for both domestic and foreign vessels while hoping to reduce capital flight by around $100 million annually, create jobs, and strengthen local capabilities.

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Regrettably, poor planning has led to aspirations becoming a phantasm.

The 125 by 35-meter facility, which has three built-in cranes, transformers, and other ancillary facilities, was constructed for N50 billion by one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world, Damen Shipyards, along with its partner, the National Industrial Research and Development Agency, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

A platform or ramp supported by pontoons is referred to as a floating dock, floating pier, or floating jetty. A gangway is typically used to connect it to the shore. Typically, pilings—vertical poles that are embedded in the seabed—or cables that are anchored hold the pier in place.