The West African Gas Ltd (WAGL), a joint venture company of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Sahara Energy, has taken delivery of two Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carriers.
The Group General Manager Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, siad in a statement on Friday in Abuja that the carriers were bought from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Ulsan, South Korea.
Ughamadu said the take-over would ensure stability in the supply of LPG, popularly known as domestic cooking gas.
Describing the vessels, Ughamadu said they both had a combined capacity of 38,000 cubic meters and had the names (cbm) “MT Africa Gas” and “MT Sahara Gas”.
He said the names were given by the wives of the Group Managing Director of NNPC and the Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power, Mrs Hajja Maikanti Baru and Mrs. Jamila Saidu Mohammed respectively, in keeping with maritime custom that spouses of the sponsors of the ships perform those aspects of the ceremony.
Ughamadu said during a brief naming ceremony to inaugurate the vessels on Tuesday, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, expressed gratitude to all the partners who helped to actualize the ship acquisition vision of the parent companies and the management of WAGL.
“I am particularly delighted that the venture we started a few years ago has achieved this enviable milestone today as we take delivery of these vessels”, Baru was quoted as saying.
The statement also quoted Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Y. S. Han, as saying the naming ceremony was the first at HMD this year, with its new customer, WAGL.
”Han thanked the managements of NNPC, Sahara Energy and WAGL for their cooperation and support throughout the period of construction of the vessels and prayed that the vessels would perform their intended services successfully and bring good fortune to WAGL and their parent companies,” Ughamadu said.
Mrs Hajja Maikanti, in her address, lauded HMD for its shipbuilding expertise which helped in translating the vision into the two magnificent LPG carriers.
She expressed the confidence that the carriers would be a great asset to West African Gas Ltd., NNPC and Sahara Energy.
WAGL was established in March 2013 while the shipbuilding contract for the two LPG carriers was entered into in May 2014. (NAN)
YETI/YAZ