Barge Operators Says 80% of Nigeria Barges are Locally Made

Nigerian barge operators in the nation’s maritime sector says 80 percent of the barges operating in Nigeria’s waters are locally made and are operating according to international standards.

The National President of BOAN, Olubunmi Olumekun, explained that the group had a specimen for the construction of barges as set by the regulatory agencies such as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigerian Ports Authority and the National Inland Waterways Authority.

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“We are already working at the international standards. We are on it because most of these barges were certified after construction. At least 80 per cent of the barges were constructed here.

“They were locally made and we have a specimen and a standard for that which we follow. So, you can see that we are operating according to standards, except for those who are not registered. It is part of our registration that before you can be a barge operator, your barge must meet the standards that were set by NIMASA, NIWA and NPA.”

Olumekun noted that the group wanted to prioritise made-in-Nigeria goods in order to create more local content, adding that the group needed loans to be able to upgrade to automated barges.

“So, it is an ongoing thing that is even our priority because safety is the best and is the first thing that we consider. We need local content, we need to patronize made-in- Nigeria products, we need to build our vessels, our barges and our tug boats ourselves.

“We have a whole lot of good engineers in Nigeria that can do that. What we are trying to do with them is to see how we can improve on what we have. We need loans so that we can have better and sophisticated barges.”

“Before now, when we started around 1970 to 1980, the cost of building a barge was, let’s say, N75 million for 1000 to 1500 tons. But now, the prices of iron have gone up, so we are looking at between N120 million and N150million just for one 1500-ton barge. So far, barges are coming up every day, and every month we see at least one or two new barges coming up.”

He further explained that, as a result of the drop in international cargoes, foreigners were taking over their jobs.