The Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) says it is exploring the possibility of setting up a floating ship repair centre in Nigeria under the Public-Private-Partnership arrangement.
The group disclosed this during a visit to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in Abuja.
A statement by Sylva’s media aide, Garuba Deen Muhammad, on Wednesday, said the President of SOAN, Dr. Mkgeorge Onyung led the delegation.
The statement added that the conversation centred on the need to synergize on building an ecosystem around shipbuilding that can align with global standards while embracing local content guidelines.
Dr. Onyung in his remarks, said the Association was keen on floating a Ship Repair Centre in Nigeria under a PPP Arrangement while currently exploring ways to cement a proposed consortium that will scale individual company efforts in providing cargo lifting service.
Also speaking, the First Vice President of the Association, Mr. Eno Williams noted that in covering the broad spectrum of its core objectives, SOAN was deeply focused on working towards fostering and revamping the ecosystem that it operates in.
Responding, Sylva encouraged the group to open a communication channel that will ensure seamless synergy and foster collaborations.
He stated that deep collaborations will offer the opportunity to look beyond the current operational challenges of the players in the business to deliver solutions that will work towards closing all gaps.
Sylva noted that the utility of the collaboration will further cement the priority agenda to work assiduously to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his poise to achieving his target of raising millions of Nigerians out of poverty via job creation.
