Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has disclosed that plans are ongoing to resolve the court action launched by an industrial zone in the west African country where the company has been building a floating oil platform for Total.
A statement by the company sent to Reuters reads:
“We are in discussions to iron out any misunderstanding or issues raised between the parties, we are yet to come to the resolution or conclusion but we hope to resolve amicably for our further businesses together.”
The management of Global Resources Management Limited (GRML), a subsidiary of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) recently ejected Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Nigeria Limited from the LADOL Free Zone in Lagos.
LADOL’s allegations included that Samsung breached the conditions of service for Nigerian workers, and violated both customs and immigration procedures.
The fate of Total’s Egina FPSO Project is hanging
SHI is the operator of a fabrication and integration yard (SHI-MCI yard) in the zone, which was used to integrate the Egina Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which has sailed away to the 200,000 barrels per day Egina oilfield.
The SHI-MCI yard is a joint venture between LADOL and SHI, with SHI having 70 percent stake and LADOL 30 percent.
The dockyard is the only one of its kind in Africa, designed to make Nigeria a hub of FPSO fabrication in the continent.
The South Korean shipbuilder, had in 2017, confirmed that Total’s Egina FPSO sailed away from its Geoje shipyard, heading to Nigeria. The FPSO, operated by Total, is 330 meters in length, 61 meters across and 34 meters high, with a storage capacity of 2.3 million barrels of oil.
SHI is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world and one of the “Big Three” shipbuilders of South Korea.
The core subsidiary of the Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, focuses on the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and the delivery of transportation ships for the commercial industry, topsides modules, drilling and floating production units for the oil and gas sector, gantry cranes for fabrication yards, digital instrumentation and control devices for ships, and other construction and engineering services.