From Uche Usim, Abuja
About fifty companies have submitted bids for contracts to supply worthy tugboats on charter time basis for the maritime operations requirements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt jurisductions.
The public bid opening event which was held at the Abuja corporate headquarters of the Corporation was attended by representatives of the bidding companies with officials of the Bureau of Public Procurement, (BPP), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and some members of the civil society as observers.
According to the national oil company, successful companies would be engaged on a two-year term contract in the first instance with an option of renewal for a further one year.
Winners are expected to provide services including: aiding the berth and un-berth of all ships operating at the NNPC jetties/buoy, logistics support for safe ship-to-ship operations which covers movement of fenders, horses, documents, rigging and unrigging of fenders among others.
In his remarks at the bidding exercise, the NNPC Group General Manager, Supply Chain Management, Mr. Shehu Liman, said the management was determined to sustain the values of transparency, accountability and integrity in the procurement process.
“Apart from providing a level playing space for all stakeholders, the public bid exercise is in conformity with existing Federal Government legislation on procurement which is also in tune with the NNPC standing regulations on procurement to ensure transparency and fairness”, Liman said.
The bid covered services like stand-by and positioning vessels at the Single Point Moring (SPM) buoy among other marine services.
At the flag off of the event, Mr. Dalhatu Makama, Group General Manager, Marine Logistics Division of the Corporation, noted that the essence of the bid process was to ensure that companies with the requisite experience in maritime operations are given the opportunity to compete for the available service in a fair and transparent manner.