Nigerian Navy builds three warships, barges in eleven years

THE Nigerian Naval Dockyard Limited said that it had constructed three warships, one fuel barge, one water barge, one houseboat and six agriculture boats in 11 years.

The Admiral Superintendent of the Dockyard, Rear Adm. Bolaji Orederu, told the reporters on Monday that the vessels were built between 2012 and 2023.

Orederu said that the warships are, the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Andoni, NNS Karaduwa and NNS Odia, alongside other vessels, barges and other infrastructure.

He added that the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, had also given them the mandate to start the construction of  two sets of ships for the Nigerian Navy.

“We build ships, barges, boats, offshore structures and also partner with other maritime players to do some construction and fabrication.

“All our vision, mission and ideas are derived from the direction of the CNS to reposition the navy to greater heights to attain our constitutional roles.

“So, the Naval Dockyard Limited has a lot to offer the nation in terms of local contents and this speaks much of our local content capabilities,” the admiral superintendent said.

Orederu said that the naval dockyard recently built six agricultural boats in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

He said that the boats were basically mini patrol boats powered by outboard engines, which were easy to maintain.

“We have outboard engineers spread all over the country in abundance, so maintenance of these boats will be easy.

Orederu called for more federal establishments and private organisations’ collaboration with the Navy, to build more vessels and infrastructure for the development of communities and the country.

“We have naval bases, naval establishments, forward operations bases in all the coastal states and all these departments have maintenance units.

“So, the maintenance of these vessels and infrastructure will be easy,” the admiral superintendent said.