*Shipping container
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, SOAN, has disclosed that the association commands a fleet ownership of not less than 150 ships.
The ships, according to the association, ranges from oil tankers, cargo handling ships, platform support vessels, pipelay vessels, dredgers, fast intervention vessels, etc.
President of SOAN, Dr. MkGeorge Okon Onyung, who disclosed this recently at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair, said ship business was the most important trade on earth, as ships handle about 60percent of the world’s trade.
Onyung emphasized on the need to build ships in-country as well as the need for the training and retraining of crew members, saying that without crew members there are no ship owners.
According to him, “We command fleet ownership of 150 ships, we command the most important part of local content. Every business logistics is very important.
“Our shipping business is segmented into three, namely; ship, crew, and contracts. There is a need to build ships in-country, also rigs, drilling ships, construction vessels, etc.
“Without crew members, there is no ship owner. There is a need for training of the crew members. Crew members are trusted, people. Crewmen must be trained and retrained. They are the most important trader on earth because they handle 60percent of the world’s trade.”
On contracts, the SOAN boss, said members of the association are ready to key into the over 80 oil and gas opportunities identified by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, which would be developed by oil firms in a short and long term, with the estimated cumulative value of the projects exceeding $100billion.
“We at Ship Owners Association of Nigeria are ready to get the contracts, to work with NCDMB and other agencies to get funds and we cannot overemphasize the need to train our crew members.”
