Yemisi Izuora
Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) has recorded another major milestone in its operation as its fabrication & integration yard expands services following a new lease from the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA).
SHIN had received an approval from NPA backed by Presidential Committee for their license application to operate a private jetty for their Fabrication and Integration yard in Tarkwa Bay, Lagos.
According to a statement by the shipbuilding giant, the new direct lease agreement opens up opportunities for more international projects, partnerships and an expanded service offering for the world-class facilities with over 500m length of robust quay wall, where Samsung made investment of over $300 million.
The new license provides SHIN with a strong foundation to continue its leading fabrication and integration activities for West Africa’s oil and gas industries, as well as maritime related activities. The SHIN fabrication and integration yard is now able to deliver marine services, ship maintenance, repair and manufacturing to the regional maritime industry.
It was gathered that the flexibility of its facilities allows it to accept all kinds of seagoing vessels and conduct a wide range of operations.
The SHI-MCI yard, which is one of the most advanced ISO 29001 and ISO 9001 certified yard in West Africa, is a fully secure facility that is strategically located to allow optimum proximity to the main shipping channel. Due to this, it will also save customers costs due to its excellent accessibility.
The 502 metre long quay wall alongside the 121,000 square metre yard can accommodate ships with upto 13metre draft and boasts the largest capacity travelling tower crane in West Africa with a lifting capacity of 70 tonnes
It also has a load bearing capacity of 25metric tonnes per square metre on average and vessel mooring bitt capacity of 100 tonnes (in total there are 72 bitts); while the quay side height from chart datum is 2.6metres.
The statement added that the certainty of a direct lease, followed by the private jetty license will enable SHIN to develop full multi-purpose terminal operations and expand its operations to include one-stop logistic services to customers.
The new agreement permits any national vessels to berth directly alongside the 502metres wharf and discharge their cargo in various types and sizes.
The Managing Director of SHIN, Mr. Jejin Jeon, said in the statement that the yard will also handle the transportation of container cargo, vessel maintenance, supply of utilities, storage space and will facilitate crew changes.
“I am pleased that the Federal Government of Nigeria, acted by NPA has entrusted us with a direct land lease for our existing fabrication and integration yard, and approved our license application to operate our facilities as a private jetty. This gives more certainty to foreign investors to continue investing in Nigeria and will attract significant new international projects for the benefit of all stakeholders.
It symbolizes the faith and belief the Nigerian government has in Samsung in our mission to attract more commercial opportunities to Nigeria. Through our business expansion, it has become certain that we are able to employ more Nigerian workforce and make greater investment in our fabrication and integration yard to better serve the regional maritime industry,” Jeon explained