The Tema Shipyard and Dry Dock needs revamping to support the government’s 24-hour economy and provide employment for the youth.
The institution is one of the institutions established by Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, but is now struggling to survive.
The shipyard, located at the Tema Port was established in 1965 on 48.45 acres of land as part of the overall infrastructure requirement for Ghana’s maritime industry.
It has two graving docks, with the first one, “Dock 1”, which is rated as the largest dock in West Africa, having a length of 277 metres, a 45 metre breadth, and a deadweight capacity of 100,000 depth width tonnes (DWT), while the ‘Dock 2’ also measures 106 m by 12.6 m, and it’s suitable for docking smaller vessels such as tugboats and fishing vessels.
The shipyard also has a fitting-out quay measuring 245 m for repairs on-float water.
Stephen Ampiaw, General Manager, Fishing Harbour at the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), briefing Joseph Bukari Nikpe, Minister for Transport, in a recent visit, indicated that in 1996, the government divested all of its interest and shares to the German ship corporation.
Ampiaw, who is an engineer, added that in 2012, the government required all of the shares back, and in 2016, gave the GPHA supervision over the shipyard, seconding staff to it.
He revealed that the institution “all the way through 2022, the staff strength used to be nearly 270; currently we are 22 staff, including the CEO and the deputy CEO,” adding
that, “We have various workshops here: electrical, fabrication, marine, carpentry, and a health facility which is not functioning now.”
According to him, to get the shipyard to operate at its full capacity, there was the need to refurbish its pumps to be able to meet the standard of flooding the docks within a few hours, stating that “because the pumps are not functioning at full capacity, sometimes it takes some days, sometimes between four days to one week, to dewater; it is not acceptable.”
The dry-dock, he added, also needed to replace some of the machines installed by the first president, as some were not working, noting that the cranes also need refurbishment or replacement.
“We need to dredge the entrances of the two docks and the fitting-out quay so that vessels can easily manoeuvre and enter the dock or seal out. We need to work on the structures we have in the yard, warehouses, workshop, slipway, and offices, among others.”
The General Manager for the Fishing Harbour also called for the paving of the yard to be able to receive the weight of the cranes when moving around, in addition to lighting up the yard as soon as possible for total visibility to support the 24-hour service.
Joseph Bukari Nikpe, Minister for Transport, regretted the retrogressing of the shipyard, saying that it was part of the government’s intention to run the place as part of the 24-hour economy.
He said the president was committed to revamping the shipyard, adding that if Ghana wants to maintain its gateway status, it should be able to provide repair services for the many vessels using its marine waters.
“As the government is looking for a worthy partner, we are also looking at how we will turn to GPHA. If we can leverage the port to revamp the shipyard, it will be for the benefit of all of us. That is if we are unable to get the right partner to help in the revamping,” he said.
According to him, for the resetting of the country and the 24-hour economy to work, it would depend on the operations of the ports, reiterating that their hopes were with the port community and would therefore work hard to revamp the dry-dock to fulfil its vision and mission of its establishment.
