22 June 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — A team of Ghanaian maritime experts visited the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics, LADOL, Base to under study its operations with a view to knowing the challenges in managing such facilities.
The team led by the Director General, Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), Mr. Kwame Owusu commended the management of LADOL for the massive investment in infrastructure and employment generation for Nigerians.
LADOL is currently playing host to the fabrication of a $3.8 billion oil and gas logistics service facility commonly known as the Floating Production Storage and Offloading –FPSO rig, otherwise called the Egina project.
He said his country will collaborate with LADOL for the development of its oil and gas industry and consider the establishment of a similar facility in Ghana.
According to him, “We have a free trade zone in Ghana but in a different format.
This one is massive.
“With the cooperation that we intend to have, we can collaborate to ensure that what we cannot do in Ghana we can do here.
“We are very grateful for the opportunity to be here and we will take back what we have learned here back home and encourage our politicians to begin to think in this direction.”
Owusu who described the base as a world class facility also said that Nigeria has always set the pace in Africa in terms of infrastructural and oil and gas development.
“This is massive, we are quite impressed.
“I think Nigeria is leading in Africa in terms of this kind of development. You are paving way for the rest of Africa; we are not surprised because you have been in this for quite a long time.
“So whatever you do we must at least try to emulate and in the future improve upon what you are doing and also take advantage of the difficulties that you encountered at the time you started and I think that is an eye opener for us.
“For the purpose of cooperation, that is why we are here. Nigeria and Ghana are both Anglophone countries and the leading in terms of development and I think that with Nigeria been here we cannot begin to develop an industry that it has been for so long without coming to learn. When I took over as the head of my country’s maritime industry I said look let us go and learn the best practice from our brothers and that is why we are here. We will do everything possible to collaborate with you.
“What we are trying to do is to see how we can streamline the activities and make sure our ports operate on the same basis so that we don’t have people crossing from country to country when they fail in a jurisdiction.
“We want to make sure that everybody pays their fair share to our respective countries.”
Similarly, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Authority (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside thanked the Ghanaian delegation for coming to Nigeria adding that both countries have a lot to learn from one another.
Peterside who was represented by the Director, Shipping and Seafarers Development, NIMASA, Sunday Umoren hailed LADOL for the massive investment and employment opportunities created for Nigerians.
He stated, “We are really impressed by what we see and I believe the next time we come here we are going to be wowed.
“We urged you to sustain the tempo and keep the flag of Nigeria flying. We were at the FPSO project site in South Korea and we can confidently say that this project is the game changer for Nigeria.
“We want to assure the management of LADOL that whatever support you want from NIMASA will be given to you.”
