MG Vowgas Group will launch the first made in Nigeria fabricated airboat before the end of January 2020, the Managing Director, Mr Godwin Izomor, has said.
Izomor made the disclosure in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after a tour of the fabrication yard in Port Harcourt.
MG Vowgas Group is an Indigenous fabrication company dealing in Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI), servicing the oil, gas, and Marine sector.
He said that the company was working with the research department of the Ministry of Defence for the fabrication of the boat.
He noted that everything about the airboat was constructed in the country.
“Presently, we work with the research department of the Ministry of Defence to build the first made in Nigeria airboat.
“The airboat has the capacity and speed of 100km per hour and it will use the propeller that is used for airplanes to power it.
“ Between now and January we are going to launch it and we will be inviting the Chief of Army Staff to come and commission it,’’ he said.
On the construction of the made in Nigeria modular refinery, he said that the project would be top priority of the company in 2020.
“We are concentrating as from next year, building the first modular refinery. That is one. Two, we are going to invest heavily with our partners in shipbuilding.
“Our partner is considering whether Bonny has the landmass for that investment, and our investors are considering that too.
“Then secondly, Brass has a lot of lands for us to play with. We are going to compare which one is the best place suitable for us because we must reduce capital flight for us here in Nigeria,’’ he said.
He appealed to the Federal Government to hasten the revival of Ajaokuta Steel Company to help in the fabrication and construction works in the country.
“We make so much money but we import almost everything we use. We fabricate everything from steel. The steel we use today is imported either from China, Ukraine or Germany.
“We cannot continue as a country, it’s a huge amount of money that is being shipped out of the country.
“The annual expenses we use to import steel into this country are enough to set up another steel company in Nigeria.
“So, we must encourage the Federal Government to make sure that in the next one or two years, Ajaokuta Steel Company is fixed to produce healthy sheet plates for our fabrication,’’ he said.
