10th December, 2010
A Singapore-based firm, Penguin Ferry Services Limited, is exploring the Nigerian market and proposing to assemble and supply ferries to operators in the country.
The Managing Director, Penguin International Limited, Mr. James Tham, revealed this  in Singapore while receiving a Federal Government delegation on a business investment trip to the Asian country.
Tham disclosed that the company had met the Lagos State Government which indicated its willingness to improve its ferry services.
He said that the waterways in Nigeria were grossly under utilised, adding that ferry services would alleviate the problem of road traffic bottlenecks in the city.
The company, according to him, had been into passenger ferry services since 1972, noting that it started as a ferry service company in bunkering, and offshore supply and had now gone into ship building.
Tham explained that the ferries could accommodate between 100 and 200 passengers on board and had all the necessary facilities.
He said that the company looked forward to establishing a ship building yard in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and an assembly plant in Nigeria.
The Nigerian delegates were conducted round Harbour Front Terminal operated by the company.
The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Malam Abdulsalam Mohammed, said that the delegation was encouraged by the efforts, the Lagos State Government made in holding discussions with Penguin Ferry Services Limited.
He said that the delegation would be happy to see the company as partners of both the Federal Government and other businessmen.
Mohammed expressed appreciation for the time given by the management of the company to receive the Nigerian delegation.
He said that the purpose of the visit was to learn from the experiences of the company, to appreciate the successes it recorded and see what Nigeria would gain from the visit.
“When next we come, we intend to see new developments in your companyâ€, Mohammed said.
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