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With eyes firmed fixed on being the first name in Nigeria’s marine logistics space, Arco Marine and Oilfield Services, a subsidiary of Arco Group, has commissioned two new fast crew boats (FCBs), FCB4 and FCB5, the fourth and fifth in its fleet at the cost of N3billion.
The investment in the vessels boats boosts the federal government’s local content policy which has always emphasised indigenous participation in all sectors of the oil and gas industry.
Earlier at the commissioning of the state-of-the-art vessels at a grand ceremony which took place at the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos Thursday, Joseph Akpieyi, chairman of Arco Group, said that he was delighted that the local content development law enacted in 2010 had made it possible for Arco Marine to establish a strong foothold in marine transportation and logistics in the last few years.
Akpieyi further called on the Federal Government, especially the regulators, to maintain a “zero tolerance” for companies that had so far refused to abide by the local content development law.
Speaking at the occasion, Yomi Jemibewon, managing director of Arco Marine and Oilfield Services Limited, revealed that the commissioning of the FCBs was “another critical milestone” in Arco Marine’s quest to become a leader in the Nigerian marine logistics space.
Jemibewon, who traced the history of Arco’s FCBs, to April 2012 Total Base at Onne, when the first two Fast Crew Boats—Arco FCB1 (a 20-passenger) and Arco FCB2 ( 30-passenger boat) were commissioned, and followed four months later with Arco FCB3 (a 70-passenger boat), added that all three boats joined Total Nigeria in its JV offshore operations to serve primarily as personnel carriers.
The Arco Marine MD also revealed that the boats offered “speed, agility and passenger safety” after Arco added “new safety features in response to feedback from our clients across the industry.”
He added further that the FCBs were “designed to offer safe and secure coupling to the offshore platform installations of all International Oil Companies (IOCs) active in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea; high speed and safe manoeuvrability between offshore platforms; and the utmost in crew and passenger safety and comfort during transfer and transit.”
Also speaking at the commissioning of the FCBs, Alfred Okoigun, group managing director of Arco Group described the vessels as products of the present administration’s commitment towards the realisation of the objectives of the local content development initiative of the government.
Okoigun said that when the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Law was enacted in 2010, many people felt that it would not succeed just like other previous initiatives that failed at the end of the day.
He observed that it was heart-warming that many international oil companies were aligning themselves with the Federal Government to make local content law a noble course of action. Okoigun also commended Total for giving Arco Marine the opportunity to prove its capabilities in marine transportation and logistics in their offshore operations.
In his address, Ernest Nwapa, executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), who was represented by Paul Zuhumben, said that it was the aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan that deliberate efforts should be made to raise the level of participation of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry in the country.
Engr Nwapa said further that over the past four years of local content law, emphasis has been on capacity building, creation of employment and increased participation of Nigerians in the industry. He advised Nigerian companies to move their businesses into the areas of assets acquisition as investors in assets like boats would be given first consideration in award of contracts.
The commissioning of the boats was carried out by Paul Anele, an engineer and the representative of Andrew Yakubu, the group managing director of NNPC. This was followed by a boat cruise for the special guests, invitees and media of the press.
Olusola Bello
