Fifty companies have submitted bids to partake in the provision of seaworthy tugboats on charter time basis for the maritime operational requirements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt.
A statement by the NNPC spokesman, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, said on Sunday that “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 which include: 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”.
Speaking at the public bid opening event, the NNPC Group General Manager, Supply Chain Management, Mr Shehu Liman, said the management of the corporation, under the watch of Dr. Maikanti Baru, was determined to instill and sustain the values of transparency, accountability and integrity in the procurement process.
He noted that apart from providing a level playing space for all stakeholders, the public bid exercise was in conformity with existing Federal Government’s legislation on procurement, which was also in tune with the NNPC standing regulations on procurement to ensure transparency and fairness.
The bid covered services such as “stand-by and positioning vessels at the Single Point Mooring (SPM) buoy among other marine services”.
The event was declared open by the NNPC Group General Manager, Marine Logistics Division, Mr Dalhatu Makama.
Mr Makama explained that the essence of the bid process was to ensure that companies with the requisite experience in maritime operations were given the opportunity to compete for the available service in a fair and transparent manner.
The event, which was held at the Abuja Corporate Headquarters of the corporation, had in attendance 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.
