NLNG grows fresh ship building manpower to reposition Nigeria’s shipping business

In its determination to close the huge manpower gap in Nigerian shipping industry so as to position the industry for growth, the Bonny Gas Transport (BGT), a subsidiary of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), has commenced the training of 580 Nigerians in different aspects of ship building and construction.

The training, which is currently ongoing in training centres located in both South Korea and Nigeria, is executed in partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). The 580 Nigerian trainees would be trained in various aspects of ship building which include electrical, mechanical, welding, painting and ship design.   

Specifically, 400 out of the 580 trainees would be trained in Nigeria while the remaining 180 will be trained in South Korea by both HHI and SHI.

In May 2014, NLNG succeeded in sending 60 trainees to Korea for a three-month programme; another 35 left Nigeria over the weekend for the continuation of their training, while another 120 Nigerians will be trained by Samsung in batches of two starting from November this year.

“BGT embarked on a new project, which is to build six new vessels and they signed a contract of $1.6 billion with Hyundai and Samsung Heavy Industries to execute the project,” Henry Agbodjan, head, Ship Management Knowledge Transfer Project of NLNG, told BusinessDay on the sidelines of the departure dinner held in honour of the 35 trainees that recently left Nigeria to Korea.

“The Nigerian Local Content element to the project involves training of Nigerians to acquire quality skills in ship building and ship construction, as well as the use of goods manufactured in Nigeria to apply in building of the new vessels,” he said.

Agbodjan stated that the training was about empowerment for Nigerians, saying it would help in reviving Nigeria’s shipping industry as a result of the new competencies and skills by the youths, thereby driving the nation’s shipping industry to the next level.

On job creation for the trainees, he said, “The aim of the project is to empower Nigerians, develop skills because there are a lot marginal fields in Nigeria today that use experts from abroad to do the mechanical, welding and other jobs that are supposed to be done by Nigerians. That is why we are getting Nigerians ready to take over these jobs.”               

He further revealed that a lot of efforts were being made in the Nigerian maritime and shipping industry to get the country ready for take-off of a dry-dock facility.

“Firstly, we build capacity and train people because there is currently a feasible study project ongoing for the development of a dry-dock facility in Nigeria and that is also part of this project. Once that feasibility is completed, the project will be made known to the public and there are other maritime companies trying to develop one thing or the other,” he said.

BusinessDay checks reveal that the trainees, who must have certain qualification to be eligible to participate in the programme, were selected from the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. A screening test was also carried out for the thousands of students that applied, and interviews were conducted for the shortlisted ones, especially for Ship Design students and the trainee managers.

Among the 35 Nigerians who left to Korea at the weekend to be trained by HHI shipyard, 28 were part of those that participated in the first training that took place in May this year for 60 Nigerian trainees, while the remaining seven were drawn from the 20 trainees who are being trained by International Energy Services Limited (IESL) in Lagos on Ship Design. The trainees are expected to apply those skills acquired during their first training in the actual construction of the new ships.

Also, Hyundai will be training 60 students in Korea, and in Bonny Vocational Centre where they are also running a programme in Welding and Advanced Welding, 180 Nigerians will be trained. The first batch of 30 has graduated and they are currently running a second batch of 30 as well.

“In terms of local content, all we need is to get ourselves prepared and what the BGT project is doing is to develop people and get them ready for the opportunities that to come,” Agbodjan added.

Shin Evnsoo, representative of Hyundai, assured the trainees that they would be well taken care of in Korea. He also applauded NLNG for its support to the operations of HHI in Nigeria.

Further findings show that as part of the Local Content involvement in the project, Nexans Kabelmental, a Nigerian company, has been given opportunity to expand the frontier of its market by supplying cables worth $1.1 million to HHI and SHI for the construction of the six ships. Also, a total of $45 million will be spent on procuring other goods and services in Nigeria needed for building of the vessel, which is expected to be delivered in 2015 and 2016.

NLNG produces liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas liquids (NGL), and the products are being transported to its customers in different parts of the world using ships that are managed by BGT, which currently owns 13 vessels. 

Uzoamaka Anagor