Nigerian firm acquires VLCC at $80 million
Nigeria’s hope of a significant participation in wet cargo lifting may have gotten a boost as an indigenous shipping company acquires a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) at the cost of N9.4 billon ($80,000,000). The 250,000 metric tons ship, acquired by a tank farm operator, MRS GROUP at the Tin Can Island Port, is indicated to be so far the largest in the West - Africa sub-region.
The VLCC known as WESTAF as a result of its large size, is expected to enable the country further reduce the number of days foreign vessels with petroleum products stay on Nigerian waters, as well as enable the Petroleum Product Marketing Companies (PPMC) reduce demurrage. The WESTAF is expected to arrive in October.
An elated Managing Director of the MRS, Oil and Gas Company, Louis Vonan Tanoe, told news men recently that the company Chairman, Sayyu Dantata, discloced that the group went after the VLCC partly to put the country’s name on the list of the few countries who own the VLCC class of ship, aside from profit making.
“We decided to acquire such an enormous vessel not only to make profit, but to contribute to the development of the nation and to see how fast we could induce price reduction through an economy of scales.
“Dantata has a vision for Nigeria by acquiring this ship. The ship will not only help Nigerians, but will contribute to the development of Africa as a continent,” explained Tanoe adding that the company had also acquired another vessel known as GREATAF, with a capacity of 135,000 metric tons, to enable the MRS consolidate its vision of running the largest vessels in the sub region.
“WESTAF will be of immense benefit to other operators in the industry because the ship will not only serve MRS GROUP, but as many as could wish to do business with us”, the managing director emphasised, expressing his dismay that vessels for now were staying as much as one month or more at the high sea because there were not enough Nigerian vessels and storage to discharge their consignment..
He noted that that the ship would serve as both a storage facility and a carrier of refined petroleum products like petrol, diesel, kerosene, low and high pour fuel oil, hence the belief that the ship would help in the decongestion of the number of ships presently queuing to load petroleum products at the country’s territorial waters.
Positing that the company would not exacerbate the current traffic night mare in the Tin Can Island / Apapa Ports axis, he explained that the MRS had equally acquired some expanse of land at Isolo to serve as parking lot for trucks, to decongest the traffic at Apapa Road, with a capacity to accommodating at least, 800 trucks, in addition to the company’s earlier investment in a parking lot that could contain 200 trucks at the depot.
The company Tanoe said further, was also constructing additional three tank farms at its terminal to increase its storage facility, maintaining that they have been adding value to the country in the last 15 years.
The VLCC known as WESTAF as a result of its large size, is expected to enable the country further reduce the number of days foreign vessels with petroleum products stay on Nigerian waters, as well as enable the Petroleum Product Marketing Companies (PPMC) reduce demurrage. The WESTAF is expected to arrive in October.
An elated Managing Director of the MRS, Oil and Gas Company, Louis Vonan Tanoe, told news men recently that the company Chairman, Sayyu Dantata, discloced that the group went after the VLCC partly to put the country’s name on the list of the few countries who own the VLCC class of ship, aside from profit making.
“We decided to acquire such an enormous vessel not only to make profit, but to contribute to the development of the nation and to see how fast we could induce price reduction through an economy of scales.
“Dantata has a vision for Nigeria by acquiring this ship. The ship will not only help Nigerians, but will contribute to the development of Africa as a continent,” explained Tanoe adding that the company had also acquired another vessel known as GREATAF, with a capacity of 135,000 metric tons, to enable the MRS consolidate its vision of running the largest vessels in the sub region.
“WESTAF will be of immense benefit to other operators in the industry because the ship will not only serve MRS GROUP, but as many as could wish to do business with us”, the managing director emphasised, expressing his dismay that vessels for now were staying as much as one month or more at the high sea because there were not enough Nigerian vessels and storage to discharge their consignment..
He noted that that the ship would serve as both a storage facility and a carrier of refined petroleum products like petrol, diesel, kerosene, low and high pour fuel oil, hence the belief that the ship would help in the decongestion of the number of ships presently queuing to load petroleum products at the country’s territorial waters.
Positing that the company would not exacerbate the current traffic night mare in the Tin Can Island / Apapa Ports axis, he explained that the MRS had equally acquired some expanse of land at Isolo to serve as parking lot for trucks, to decongest the traffic at Apapa Road, with a capacity to accommodating at least, 800 trucks, in addition to the company’s earlier investment in a parking lot that could contain 200 trucks at the depot.
The company Tanoe said further, was also constructing additional three tank farms at its terminal to increase its storage facility, maintaining that they have been adding value to the country in the last 15 years.