By Dipo Olowookere
Two brand new vessels have been purchased by C&I Leasing Plc to be immediately deployed for a long-term contract with Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG).
The two new acquisitions are called the 2018 ‘ASD 2913 Tugboats’ named ‘MV Chidiebube’ and ‘MV Folashade’ with Sifax Marine Limited under the Sifax C&I Marine Limited joint venture arrangement.
A statement issued by C&I Leasing explained that the purchase of the two vessels is part of its commitment to expanding its marine business and service delivery.
In July 2018, the business service conglomerate concluded the buyout of a 27.5 percent minority stake in C&I Petrotech Marine Ltd, its marine business subsidiary, and in the process took over complete ownership of six vessels presently deployed in a long-term contract with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).
C&I Leasing has been in operation for over two decades and has since evolved from being a finance leasing company licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1991 to becoming a diversified, leasing and business service conglomerate providing support services to various indigenous and multinational organizations in West Africa along three lines: Fleet Management, Personnel Outsourcing and Marine Services with operational offices in Lagos, Benin, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu and Abuja.
Commenting on the new purchased vessels, Managing Director of the C&I Leasing, Mr Andrew Otike-Odibi, stated that, “C&I Leasing Plc is committed to becoming the most preferred Marine partner for the IOCs in Nigeria.
“We will continue to follow through on all that needs to be done to meet their needs. These new vessels have been built to specification for the assignment ahead and we are confident that they will deliver even beyond expectation.
“With every new contract and acquisition, we are careful to take learning from the past and improve continuously to serve our clients better.
“We are sure that they will be very pleased with MV Chidiebube and MV Folashade.”