The management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has urged all stakeholders to ensure strict compliance with the country’s statutory rules and regulations on the operation of newly built Floating Production, Storage and Off-Loading (FPSO) Egina.
The Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, gave the charge on Wednesday while welcoming the new FPSO Egina at the LADOL jetty in Lagos.
Egina came into the country after a 90-day voyage from Samsung Shipyard, Goeje, South Korea.
The FPSO has a Length Over All (LOA) of 330 metres, and a Gross Tonnage (GT) of 219,800 tonnes.
Usman said that the berthing of the vessel shows that NPA and Nigeria have the capacity to handle very large vessels.
She said, “Over the past couple of months, NPA has embarked on massive investment, which included the purchase of four tug boats, the dredging of channels, as well as campaign for the removal of wrecks across the nation’s waterways.
“We are doing all these to increase our capacity for effective service delivery.
“It is important to note that the choice of Lagos for this project is a confirmation of the good reasoning behind the Federal Government’s policy on liberalisation of oil and gas logistics operations.
“We as a result, encourage prospective investors to explore this and other opportunities that the reform of our operations had engendered, as we assure of NPA’s willingness to facilitate these ventures.”
Usman commeded President Mohammadu Buhari, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the entire Federal Government for their support towards the project.
The Managing Director, Total Upstream Nigeria Ltd, Nicolas Teraz, said the FPSO would be producing oil at a depth of 1,500 metres under water.
He said Egina was the largest floating platform in the country at the moment.
