ANALYSING CURRENT TRENDS OF NIGERIAN DREDGING INDUSTRY.

A Presentation
By
EDMUND CHILAKA
At 
THE 4TH NIGERIAN DREDGING SUMMIT 
AND EXHIBITION CALABAR 2010.
SEPT. 22-24, 2010.
AMBER TINAPA HOTEL, ADIABO, CALABAR
           CROSS RIVER STATE. NIGERIA.

ANALYSING CURRENT TRENDS OF THE DREDGING INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA.

Dredging in Nigeria has been here since the colonial times.  
The NPA official Handbook  says that orders were first placed for dredgers to work at the Lagos Lagoon in 1906. 

In 1914, the first mail steamer to enter the Lagos habour, the S/S Akoko  came into port. A Customs Wharf was built on the Marina the same year, and this was the beginning of the Apapa port  that we know today.
 
•	Today, the Lagos  ports system is the busiest in the West African sub region. 
•	 Together with other Nigerian ports , they account for over 65% of West African shipping activities. 
•	Constant maintenance dredging is required to keep calling ships of all weights afloat and moving. 

COMMON TYPES OF DREDGING ACTIVITIES NOW BEING DONE IN NIGERIA.

2 broad divisions: 
PUBLIC SECTOR.
PRIVATE SECTOR.

PUBLIC SECTOR DREDGING:
•	Harbour dredging at Lagos ports, Warri, Esravos, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and smaller ports like Oguta and Onitsha.
•	Inland Waterways dredging like River Niger Dredging linking up Baro, Onitsha and Bifurcation down to the Niger Delta .
•	 
 
COMMON TYPES OF DREDGING ACTIVITIES NOW BEING DONE IN NIGERIA.

2 broad divisions: 
PUBLIC SECTOR.
PRIVATE SECTOR.

PUBLIC SECTOR DREDGING:

•	State Govt Projects like the Nworie River in Owerri  Imo State(now taken over by the NDDC).
•	Lagos state dredging of the Lagos Lagoon to facilitate ferry transport from Lekki to Ikorodu, Epe and around Lagos metropolis.
•	Sand filling for road constructions in Niger Delta and the Lagos-Epe Expressway, etc.

PRIVATE SECTOR DREDGING
This can be sub-divided into the dredging activities by limited liability companies including the oil companies, estate development companies and others, on the one hand. 

OIL COMPANIES: Well-head sweeping, canalisation, river widening or deepening operations, access to well-heads or flowstations, especially for swamp operations, etc. 65% of operations require dredging services input.

Real estate companies: Main need is for sand to reclaim swamps and marsh land e.g. 
Many parts of Lekki peninsula in Lagos, etc, where estates have sprung up out of reclaimed land like VGC, Femi Okunnu estate, Lateef Jakande.

Eko Atlantic City, a public-private sector initiative to create a new city out of the waters of the Bar Beach measuring 1.5 kilometres.

Development spurred by the market for prime real estate in a mega city centre. Plots of  land here already said to be sold out.

Development of hotels and a modern city like the Dubai World islands in the Middle East.  Currently Royal Haskoning is said to be engaged for the continuing works.
 
On the other hand, massive entrance of Nigerians into the lucrative industry of sand mining as:
•	Dredge Owners / Operators
•	Dredging Contractors, some without dredgers
•	Equipment vendors and agents
•	Surveyors
•	Consultants

Artisanal…
These are grouped into associations and joining is by owning your own boat.

This is the Ebute Ilaje Association, by name, Ifesowapo, and their secretary, made the contact to get the press to give them some coverage in their fight with the state government which wanted to take over their site.

Site of their fore-fathers since before Nigerian Independence.

Each boat is owned and worked by workers rented by the owners and sand is mined by hand from mid stream on the Lagos Lagoon towards Ikorodu.

Mining trip takes about 2 days.  They offload and sell to trucks between N6,000.00 to N8,000.00 depending on delivery location.
 
Boats use sail – the power of wind energy – to drive their canoes to and from the site of sand winning.

Boats cost N300,000.00 to build and equip with planks and sail, etc.
 
Mechanised dredger operations…

Sand stockpile and 
reclamation for estate development are popular…

Usually sold in trucks at around N25,000.00 per 10 ton-truck.

 .
USES OF SAND

If for road contract jobs, contracts run into hundreds of thousand of cubic metres.  For example supplies for the East-West Road or the 600km Coastal Road from Lagos to Calabar.

Some sources have quoted Nigeria’s Central Bank as estimating the sand need in the  Nigerian market for various constructions at over 3 billion cubic metres over the next ten years . 

Sometimes, the sand in use here comes from direct mining by the construction company along the route of the project but at other times, if sharp sand from the rivers are needed for their effect on the nature of soil segment, the required quantities may necessitate dredging.

OIL COMPANY WORK.

Mainly in the Niger Delta.

•	Well-head sweeping
•	Canalisation for green fields 
•	Channel widening or deepening to make access to brown fields.
•	Reclamations in host-communities for either relocation, development of infrastructures like roads, shore protection or for schools, hospitals or water schemes like bore holes (needed for license to operate LTO).

 
Mechanised Dredging Contractors.
 THE MAJOR OPERATORS

2 divisions: Locals and Multinationals.

Multinationals
Van Oord.
Jan de Nul.
Dredging International.
Westminster Dredging
Julius Berger  ***
BCC ***
LCM ***

Some Nigerian Dredge owning Companies

Nestoil Nigeria Ltd.
Harris Dredging Nigeria Ltd.
Fobi Engineering Dredging Coy (Defunct).
Funq Tai Engineering and Constr.
Shoreline Energy.
Sedac Nigeria Ltd. 
AbbeyCourt Energy Services.
Denka Marine.
MFW Dredging
Spectran.

Some Nigerian Sand Stockpile Companies
•	Sedac Nigeria Ltd. 
•	Construction Support Ltd.
•	Glossands Nigeria Ltd.

Difference Between Dredging Contractors and Dredge Owner-Operators.
Contractors have the management experience and can execute projects with leased equipment or manage sand stockpile business by paying for dredger services. The categorization is not fixed.

Local and International Consultants:

•	Royal Haskoning 
•	CARES
•	SBM.
•	Enplan. 

For example, for the River Niger Dredging, consultants and contractors included:
•	Dredging International Services Nig Ltd.
•	Fung Tai Engineering Co. Ltd.
•	Van Oord Nig Ltd.
•	William Lloyds Technical Co. Ltd.
•	Aim Consultants.
•	Dredging And Marine Consultants Ltd.
•	Enplan Group.
•	Royal Haskoning Engineering Consultants Nig Ltd.

TYPICAL JOB TITLES AND SKILLS.
Office based and Field Based
 
Office based – 
•	Project Manager
•	Admin Manager
•	Project Engineer
•	Accountant
•	Surveyor / Qty Surveyor
•	Logistics Officer
•	Community Relations Officer
•	Public Affairs / Government Liaison Officers.
•	Etc.

Field staff:
•	Dredge Masters and Assistants
•	Marine Engineers.
•	Marine Engineer Assistants.
•	Deck Hands.
•	Greasers.
•	Mechanics.
•	Sand fill Masters / Superintendents.
•	Supervisors.
•	Quarter Masters for the Boats/ Canoes.
•	Field Clerks / Cashiers.
•	Security Operatives.

COST OF DREDGERS
Costs range in price from under $100,000 US, for small and medium category dredgers to millions of US Dollars for trailing suction hopper dredgers.

Determinant of final cost is the requirements and specifications like size and any special order outside the standard fare; workboats; length of pipes; spare parts kits; training package for local dredge crews by dredge builder.

DREDGERS IN USE

Hopper dredgers for big projects like Eko Atlantic City or Bonny Channel Dredging. 

Medium Sized heavy duty dredgers of 18-inch, 20-inch, 24-inch used for reclamation or stockpile of large quantities of sand.
While smaller ones like 10-, 12-, 14- etc are very popular for the so-called pump-and-sell sand market, etc.

NIGERIA
•	Jeph Kebbi.
•	Stephen Agbonifo
•	Etc.

Difference in prices:
Nigerian dredge builders charge about N80 million for a 14-inch or 16-inch dredger. Could be cheaper depending on bargaining power.

DREDGE SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS
Mainly from the US and Europe, but now Chinese companies are joining the supply chain.

US COMPANIES
•	Ellicott
•	Dredging Supply Company,
•	DredgeMasters International

EUROPE
•	IHC
•	Damen Dredging Equipment
•	Italdraghe SpA.
•	Toyo Pumps from Italy, Canada, India, Japan, China, Etc.

GOVTAL AND SOCIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MOST DREDGING ACTIVITIES:
•	NIWA
•	MMSD
•	NIMASA
•	LAGOS STATE
•	STATE GOVTS
•	LOCAL GOVTS
•	COMMUNITIES – OMO NILE, VILLAGE HEAD, CHIEFS, YOUTH LEADERS, ELDERS, ETC.

GOVTAL AND SOCIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MOST DREDGING ACTIVITIES:   Issues in their work.
•	NIWA  - Royalties N100.00 per cubic metre  
•	MMSD – Royalties N28.50 per cubic metre 
•	NIMASA – Registers dredgers and oversees safety.
•	LAGOS STATE – Repealed NIWA law to form LASWA, now charges various fees for dredger permits, etc. Also Min of Environment and MWID very dominant in approving dredge operations in Lagos.  (a) Min of Waterfront charges drainage fee of N30.00 per sq metre reclaimed but amount now fluctuates.  (b) LASWA charges dredger registration fees ranging from N5m for small dredgers to N10m, etc, for bigger dredgers.
•	Other STATE GOVTS – State Govts in other states don’t seem to have problems with their dredging community, except officials looking out for themselves.
•	LOCAL GOVTS – collects royalties and levies of various kinds.
•	COMMUNITIES – OMO NILE, VILLAGE HEAD, CHIEFS, YOUTH LEADERS, ELDERS, ETC. settled according to MOUs.
 
 * OPPORTUNITIES.
•	Supply and demand for sand.
•	Harbour dredging, big and small, like the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal, etc.
•	Oil company work in the Niger Delta, etc - various kinds.
•	Estates Development like Lakowe Golf Course.
•	Equipment Vending, supply, consultancy, repairs and maitenance.
•	Surveying and measurements before and after dredging operations, needed for EIAs, dispute settlement and office records.

MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT
•	Skills training and retraining is imperative to get the best from the venture.
•	Many skilled dredge masters, engineers and MEAs are expatriates and the companies using them sometimes have poor or no succession plan in favour of local hands. So thanks to the Local Content Law and the Board’s decision not to allow waiver unless a plan to remedy the lack of indigenous capacity in that area is is clearly shown by the foreign operator.
•	Formal schools for dredging available only in places like Holland or  Texas A & M University which organises a short course from time to time.

•	Locally MAN Oron is stepping up in that category as one of its graduates now builds dredgers locally, so it might as well look into introducing suitable courses for dredging skills acquisition. 
•	Otherwise all the credential local operators have is   working experience with Julius Berger or Westminster or Van Oord, etc. 

 
OTHER IMPERATIVES 
•	A robust Association of dredge sector operators and NGOs are needed to manage  confidence building in the industry about transparency, standards and integrity.
•	Associations can also become a clearing house for complaints by operators or a reference point by banks and public agencies like NIMASA or NCDMB if they want to certify that applicants for loans or other benefits have the track record they are claiming.  Absence of such groupings now leaves the industry without solid checks and balances in the private sector.  So far Dredgers Association of Nigeria has been registered in Lagos and a Dredging Federation is in the offing. 
•	E.g. of a current issue is the controversy surrounding aspects of the R. Niger dredging project in Baro by the Hon Minister of Transport.
•	Interested stakeholders should indicate their interest to take part in such groupings.

THANK YOU