The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside has said the on-going construction of the multi-billion dollar Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) project would increase the knowledge base of NIMASA as a safety Administration and enhance its regulatory capacity.
The Director General made this known during a meeting with the Executive Vice President of Samsung, Mr Younsang Won, Representatives of Total Nigeria and the Vice President in charge of Egina project, Yongho Jo, while on a working visit to inspect the project at the Samsung Shipyard in the Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje, South Korea,. Dakuku said that the project which is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria would increase the knowledge base of NIMASA and ultimately fetch the country the much needed foreign exchange.
According to him, “this project is the first of its kind in Nigeria, it will increase our knowledge base of inspection techniques, certification and rules for maintaining classification and ultimately benefit the Nigerian economy in terms of foreign exchange.” He commended Samsung and Total oil for having faith in Nigeria and its effort to comply with Nigerian content law. In his response Mr Younsang Won promised the visiting NIMASA boss that the project will be ready for movement to Nigeria in August and assured that the quality of the project will bear the mark of excellence associated with Samsung Heavy industries. He promised to comply with local laws in Nigeria and do all within his powers to work with locals to build capacity in offshore projects industry. The FPSO is being developed for deployment in the Egina oil field, located 150km off the coast of Nigeria.
