The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has handed over the leased site at the Continental Shipyard ltd (CSL) of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to the technical partners, Melsmore.

Bashir Jamoh, the director-general, NIMASA, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Mr Jamoh said the technical partners would liaise with the management of the NPA in finalising the site management.

This, he said, includes risk assessment in preparation for moving the Modular floating Dock to the Continental Shipyard for the commencement of full operations.

He said NIMASA and the technical partners agreed to invite manufacturers of the Floating Dock, Damen Shipyard, to join in recommissioning the Dockyard while site preparations were ongoing.

Mr Jamoh said this was to ensure the floating dock was deployed in the shortest possible time.

While addressing officials of Melsmore, Mr Jamoh emphasised the need for them to review the action plan in the light of realities on ground with detailed deliverables and key performance indicators with clearly stated timelines.

“Nigerians eagerly await the deployment of the modular floating dock.

“This is a national asset, which has potential to boost maritime trade, create jobs, develop skills, by providing training avenues to various maritime training institutions in Nigeria while also attracting foreign investment and preventing capital flight, thereby generating revenue.

“We hope to have students from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and the Maritime University Okerenkoko, amongst other maritime institutions come for practical time,” he said.

Responding, the managing director, Melsmore, Danny Fuchs, thanked the management of the agency for the opportunity to work on such important project.

Mr Fuchs said the company was prepared to handle the movement of the floating dock from the naval dockyard to the Continental Shipyard Ltd.

It may be recalled that the NPA recently leased designated areas at the continental shipyard for the operations of the modular floating dock.

The areas include; the dolphin jetty, waterfront of the jetty adjourning the slipway, an administrative block, a construction, welding and mechanical workshop and a civil maintenance workshop, among others.

The project will be run on a public-private partnership arrangement.

(NAN)