Nigerdock management has confirmed that the company had completed the first phase of its shift to renewable energy sources through the installation of solar solutions at Snake Island Integrated Free Zone.
Nigerdock is a leading Nigerian maritime company operating the largest multipurpose terminal and shipyard in Lagos servicing customers in the energy, logistics, offshore and shipping sectors.
Chief executive officer, Nigerdock, Maher Jarmakani, said in a statement last weekend that the company is focusing more on renewable energy.
Jarmakani also said that with the installation, Nigerdock would also reduce CO2 output by about 2,000 metric tons and achieve significant emission reduction targets.
“Current solar operations enable Nigerdock to displace 40% of its daytime energy consumption, reduce CO2 output by about 2,000 metric tons, and achieve significant emission reduction targets.
“As a self-sustaining economic hub, improving our energy consumption and reducing our carbon footprint is pivotal to our long-term operations and success. Our renewable energy solution will provide us and our growing clientele with consistent power and greater ease to conduct business,” he said.
Jarmakani said the installation of solar solutions at Snake Island Integrated Free Zone project was part of a wider push by Nigerdock to develop 20megawatts of sustainable, cost-effective, and reliable power within the free zone.
According to him, the solar power expansion is the next step in Nigerdock’s journey towards green port status. The company boss highlighted the company’s vision and commitment to Nigeria’s climate change act, the blue economy, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jagal, a diverse Nigerian conglomerate, the company has achieved substantial growth while developing into the largest fabrication facility and ship repair yard in West Africa
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It was the dream of becoming a shipbuilding nation that prompted the Nigerian government to build Nigerdock on Snake Island in 1986.
And the shipyard was thriving until 2002, when government decided to privatise the once sprawling entity.
Before it was privatised, the company had graduated from merely repairing ships to actual shipbuilding, especially small craft, boasting a total of 28 vessels it had constructed over the years.
By 2001, it had also repaired over 600 vessels of various specifications, with more than 1,500 staff on its payroll, out of which 600 were permanent workers.
2002, when government announced its intention to privatise the company for which its foreign technical partners, Navimor from Poland, indicated interest as the core investor, Nigerdock held great promise for the country’s industrial growth
As Navimor already had issues with the federal government, due to alleged claim of 30% ownership of the firm prior to privatisation, it made no sense to the authorities to hand over the company to it as a core investor.
Thus, Global Energy Company consequently won the bid before it handed the shipyard over to the current managers, Jagal Nigeria Limited, which is now focusing more on fabrication of oil and gas equipment, rather than ship repair for which the company was known.
At this stage, the company had a floating dock constructed in Poland with lifting capacity of 3000/1800 tons and was equipped with ultra modern machineries and an off-shore construction areas for the building of structures, oil rigs equipped with 60 tons capacity, mobile cranes and 150 tons crawler crane for handling even the heaviest construction pieces.
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From Nigerdock, the premier dockyard in Nigeria, there has been an emergence of other privately owned shipyards in Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Presently, the country has nine shipyards, some of which are fully operational. They are 25,000 tones capacity Nigerdock on Snake Island, Lagos, Starzs Marine and Engineering Ltd. (Starzs Shipyard) in Onne area of Port Harcourt.
Others are West Atlantic Shipyard, also in Onne, Naval dockyard in Lagos, which is mainly used to service military vessels and a few commercial ships, non-functional continental shipyards in Lagos, a non-functional Naval Shipyard in Port Harcourt, non-functional Technitrade Shipyard in Warri, West African ventures and Nestoil in Port Harcourt, though still under development.
But these facilities seem not enough to service the over 1,200 vessels operating within Nigerian waters. They are of low capacity and cannot handle large vessels, especially those operating offshore.
By Bosco Agba
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