With Caverton, Nigeria now boats manufacturing country, say Lagos govt, stakeholders at Boatyard Facility Tour

By BASHIR ADEFFAKA

The Chief Executive Officer of Caverton Offshore Support Group, Mr. Olabode Makanjuola, led the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, General Manager of the Lagos State Waterways Authority, Mr. Oluwademilare Emmanuel, stakeholders in the maritime sector and members of the Nigerian Press on a facility tour of the boats production yard of his Group’s subsidiary, Caverton Marine Boats PLC, on Wednesday 27th March 2024.

The trip, organised by the trio of Lagos State Ministry of transportation, LASWA, and Caverton Marine Boats PLC and which started from Caverton Helipad in Victoria Island, took the team first to the LASWA headquarters at Falomo Jetty where an educative briefing was given mainly by the GM about the Lagos State Waterways Monitoring and Data Centre.

From the LASWA’s Falomo Jetty, where the Commissioner was joined by others from the Caverton end, the team began the journey that took them 30 minutes to cruise in the waterbus before getting to the Badore-Ajah Jetty, where the Caverton’s marine boats manufacturing factory is located doing the work of construction of the ferries to be handed over to the state government to enable it diversify transportation business and address social and infrastructure challenges in the communities.

To this reporter, who was among the Nigerian journalists selected for the tour, what happened on Wednesday could better be placed as yet another milestone in the anal of effort by the company to make Nigeria self-reliant as an economy giant in the world through its intervention starting from marine with Caverton Marine Boats PLC now positioning the country as  boat manufacturing nation, and aviation with Caverton Helicopters Limited where innovations such now as Training Centre for the training of pilots and aviation support officers, Simulators and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) are already and installed and performing wonders in the industry.

Before leaving for the journey Wednesday, the CEO while briefing journalists had said that, “Today marks a significant milestone in our journey towards revolutionizing water transportation in Lagos State. As you are aware, Lagos, being a coastal city with an extensive network of waterways, has a huge potential for water transport which has been underutilized for years. The challenges of road congestion and pollution have highlighted the need for alternative modes of public transportation that are efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly.

“Recognizing the pivotal role that water transportation can play in decongesting our roads and improving the overall quality of life for Lagosians, Caverton, in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, is proud to announce the construction of new, state-of-the-art ferries, each with a 40-passenger capacity. These ferries are a testament to our commitment to providing a viable, and efficient water transportation system that will serve as an integral part of the state’s transportation infrastructure.

“The initiative is far from being a mere corporate social responsibility gesture; it is a strategic economic development project aimed at bolstering the economy of Lagos State. By providing a more effective way for commuters to navigate the city, we are not only easing the daily commute but also opening up new economic opportunities, from tourism to commerce.”

Telling more of what to meet on the tour, the CEO said, “we will showcase the features of our new ferries, which have been designed with the safety, comfort, and convenience of passengers in mind. You will have the opportunity to witness the craftsmanship that goes into each vessel, as well as the stringent safety protocols that we adhere to.

Furthermore, we will discuss the broader impact of this project on job creation and skills development within the local community. The construction and operation of the ferries are creating valuable employment opportunities and are helping to build a skilled workforce in the maritime sector.

“We are confident that this initiative will mark the beginning of a new era in public transportation in Lagos State. The partnership between Caverton and the Lagos State Government reflects our shared vision of a connected city, where every Lagosian has access to safe, reliable, and efficient modes of transportation.”

Appreciating the media for their cooperation by joining the organisers on the tour, he said, “we look forward to your continued support as we embark on this transformative journey. Our representatives will be available throughout the tour to answer any questions you may have. Let us set sail towards a brighter and more connected future for Lagos,” he said.

Fieldibg questions from the journalists he said that Caverton Marine, asides providing waterways transportation services, has also domesticated the manufacturing of boats, which it does currently in partnership with Lagos State Government to, first and foremost, help the state live up to its ‘state of aquatic splendour’ glory and, by extension, help Nigeria save cost in all ramifications that would have accrued should those boats be imported like before.

According to the Caverton CEO, the company has been commissioned to build 25 boats for the Lagos State government and “the boats we are doing right now are 40-passenger” done under strict supervision by Caverton Marine Boats Plc’s team of experts led by the Factory Manager, Mohammed Ibrahim, who was brought back from its retirement in far away Lebanon to put its expertise to use for Nigeria to learn and gain from, Corporate Strategy and Planning, Architect Kunmi Agbaje.

Makanjuola said the boats pass through three stages of checks and inspection by an international quality assurance organisation, the Bureau Veritas, with Bureau’s inspectors currently on ground in Nigeria to ensure that the boats produced as Made-in-Nigeria by Caverton meet compliance with international standard.

Briefing the journalists in the pre-take off for the trip when asked about sourcing for basic raw materials, Mr. Olabode Makanjuola said, “Once you are into manufacturing of boats locally, you find out that the raw materials are not available here. So you have to import. It is the sad part especially when it comes to the issue of foreign exchange.

“Boats are built according to specification of Bureau Veritas. They will ask for your type of raw materials, how and where you sourced them from and how they are processed.”

He said, “80 percent of what we use in manufacturing boats here in Nigeria import based” with, according to him, the main important component of the boat manufacturing that is the engine, coming from Japan.

However, he said, dealing with the issue of foreign exchange, that, “My conclusion about Caverton Marine is that, it sees the foreign exchange issue in Nigeria as blessing in disguise. It now supports local raw materials producers to produce to specification and through its insistence on standard. It also insists on ability off local manufacturing that it does so that no foreign producer will come and take the glory. This way, Nigeria is not project as fake in the face of foreigners and Nigeria, like China, will grow from strength to strength.”

On the local content, he said Caverton Marine Boats Plc is purely in a homegrown organisation established for Nigeria to produce for the marine needs of Nigeria just like Caverton Helicopters Limited does in the aviation sector with its MRO and training centre.

In the Caverton Marine’s boats manufacturing factory, the CEO said asides the quality assurance expert who is a foreigner, all the human participation in the manufacturing of boats in the Caverton Boatyard are Nigerians, adding that “Our boat once transported Super Eagles to Benin Republic for a match”.

He noted that boat transportation is fuel consuming as it takes each of his boat N200 litres of petrol fuel for a roundtrip from Victoria Island to Ipakodo in Ikorodu meaning a total of 800 litres for four roundtrips.

“Boat is something that is expensive to operate and reason it requires government-private partnership in term of subsidy” but the major challenge in the sector is foreign exchange.

The DEFENDER’s investigation revealed that Caverton’s partnership with the Lagos State government is enshrined in relationship of a manufacturer contracted to build 25 boats to be handed over, after completion, to enable the state government achieve an effective waterways transportation system to ease the pressure on the road transport corridors in the Centre of Excellence.

At Boatyard

On arrival at the Boatyard, Architect Kunmi Agbaje, the Caverton Marine Boats Plc’s Corporate Strategy and Planning, took the visiting stakeholders through the building process from the floor with a chemicalised foam that makes the boat unsinkable to the compartment done make flow of impossible from one part of the floor to the other. He gave all the explanation of the boat building from scratch output with full briefing about safety assurance.

The Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi, while speaking at the boatyard, told the press the purpose and beauty of the facility tour of the Caverton Marine Boatyard.

“The importance of you coming around is to be able to, of course at the building stage, make your inputs so whatever correction we that we need to do like the ventilation and the couple of little things that were mentioned can be done immediately. So, I like the feedback, I like the fact that questions were asked. If there are other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask so that at the end of the day, you are the ones that will run these boats,” the Commissioner said.

In his own brief, GM LASWA, Oluwademilare Emmunuel said, “I think it is very, very important, that’s the reason why we brought everyone here today. As you know the state government has been committed over the years to full sustainable development on water transportation. And this is very key now, especially because we’ve seen cost of exports and even imports as well. But, of course, we want to export out of Lagos and we know what the heavy cost of being able to import boats into Nigeria has been.

“So, the fact that we can make boats that of international standard in Lagos is a plus for Lagos State and it’s to show that Lagos State continues to lead the line because we believe very well that Nigeria as well, I mean 28 out of 36 even more that we are finding out now….So there is no reason why we shouldn’t be making standard boats for movement of our own citizens in Nigeria from Point A to Point B.

“So, bringing you here today is to see what Lagos State is doing to plug this gap as well and, of course, to show you that there is still more to be done and we hope that there will still be many more of this kind of initiative as well, not only in Lagos State, but also in Nigeria as a whole.”

About Caverton

Caverton Marine Boats Plc stands out as one of Nigeria’s most rapidly advancing indigenous enterprises, carving a pivotal role in the domain of marine vessel operations, the transportation of petroleum products across Nigeria and the production of commercial ferries.

The Caverton Marine, founded in 1999 as a shipping company, has notably and significantly contributed to the commercial ferry sector, with a focus on efficient and reliable transportation services. This expansion reflects its commitment to excellence and its dedication to meeting the diverse needs of its clients in the maritime and petroleum industries.

Participation

In attendance at the tour event were the Chief Executive Officer, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Mr. Olabode Makanjuola; Commissioner for Transportation, Lagos State, Mr. Oluwaseun Osiyemi; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Lagos State, Mr. Olawale Musa; General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr. Oluwadamilola Emmanuel; Factory Manager, Caverton Marine Boats Plc, Mohammed lbrahim;; Corporate Strategy and Planning, Caverton Marine Boats Plc, Architect Kunmi Agbaje; Technical Assistant to Lagos State Commissioner of Transportation, Fadekemi lmmanuel; Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, LASWA, Oyindamola Ade-Alli; Director of Operations, Lagos Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Ojoowuro Olasunkanmi; stakeholders in the maritime sector and members of the Nigerian Press.