Business
Indigenous Shipping Firm Acquires $20m Merchant Tankers
An indigenous firm, Morlap Shipping Company, Lagos, says it has acquired two merchant tankers estimated
at 20 million dollars (N3 billion).
This was contained in a statement issued on Monday by Mr. Bolaji Akinola, the Company’s Media Adviser.
The statement said the two newly-acquired vessels, MT Mor Prosperity and MT Mor Power, would boost the fleet of vessels operating under the Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN).
MT Mor Prosperity is an 18,000-tonne double-hull oil tanker built in Malaysia by Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The statement said the tankers had arrived in the country and deployed to service a contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
It said the vessel which is 160-metre long is fitted with cargo control room (CCR) and complies with the latest international recommendations for oil tanker manifolds and associated equipment.
The other merchant tanker, MT Mor Power, a 30,000-tonne oil tanker, is expected to arrive in the country in April and would also be deployed to service a contract with NNPC.
Report say indigenous ship owners have been making efforts to ensure that the NNPC gives them part of the contracts of transportation of crude oil.
NAN reports that to make their dream a reality, the ship owners came together and floated a mega shipping company named ISAN Shipping Company.
The ship owners are sourcing for an initial sum of N I billion to take off with a big tanker vessel.