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By: Justice Ahoto
The government has committed to injecting significant capital to fully restore the Tema Shipyard as operations resume following two weeks of inactivity and a recent flood that damaged key equipment, Minister of Transport Joseph Bukari Nikpe has announced.
Speaking during an inspection of the facility,Mr. Nikpe said the revival of the shipyard is central to President John Mahama’s agenda to make Ghana’s ports the most competitive in the West African sub-region.
“It’s our engineers. We all are aware that over the years, the shipyard has not been operational. It has been on and off. Ever since President Mahama resumed office, it has been his task to ensure that we bring this back to life,” the Minister said.
He noted that after machines were restored, flooding submerged the entire pump house and rendered equipment inoperable. Engineers have since salvaged and repaired the systems.
“I’m happy today to say that it is now fully functional. They have started admitting ships into the yard for maintenance. So this is good news,” Mr. Nikpe added.
The Minister disclosed that two vessels are currently inside the yard for maintenance, with a third waiting at the entrance to be admitted.
“Previously we did not have any ships admitted for maintenance or overhaul. Today, when we were coming, you saw that two of them are inside, and one is at the entrance,” he said.
Mr. Nikpe assured shipping lines operating in West Africa that Ghana now has the capacity to service and repair vessels locally.
“Any shipping line that has business to do within the West African sub-region, if they have any maintenance work, they should come. Our engineers are ready, our mechanics are ready, and all our workers are ready… Now that we have brought back the pumping machines, it can now wet the dry dock and siphon out the water to get repairs done.”
He said the government will provide further funding to procure new machines and equipment needed to bring the shipyard to international standards.
“It will not happen in one day. It’s a continuous process until we get to the point where the shipyard is competing with other shipyards in the world,” the Minister stated. “The shipyard will come back to its glory days under the support and leadership of President Mahama.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Tema Shipyard said the facility lost 7 to 9 days of work due to the floods, but has now regained full capacity.
“Wednesday evening, we started watering the pump house with Dock One. As at yesterday, our staff and the technical team were engaged in setting the keel blocks to be able to admit those two vessels,” the CEO said.
He confirmed that three vessels are being admitted today and more could follow tomorrow.
The CEO noted that while Dock Two was unaffected, Dock One’s pumps and gates still need replacement. The gate had been shut for almost three months before the new management took over and spent six weeks on temporary repairs.
“However, we still need to replace the pumps and the gates. That has been the problem… it has worn out and just needs a new replacement,” he said.
He also cited drainage challenges, saying the existing drains could not contain the volume of water during the floods. “We have taken pragmatic action to ensure that this does not block operations,” he assured.
The CEO praised government support, saying the pump house ,described as “the heart of the yard” is now 100% complete following reforms.
“Barely sixteen months ago, on the 26th of February 2025, when you visited here, this pump house was not the same as it is today..
With your support and the support of government, we have been able to reform the whole of this pump house. It is now 100% complete,” he told the Minister.
He said a date is being scheduled for the Minister to officially commission the rehabilitated pump house.
