BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
Caverton Group, a major provider of marine, aviation and logistics services, has revealed ongoing business plans to increase its capacity and boost revenue for shareholders.
Part of the new contracts won by the Group is the maintenance of the Benin Republic Presidential Air Fleet which it says will help Nigerian businesses to grow in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc (the Company), Olabode Makanjuola, who made the disclosure on the sidelines of the Nigerian Oil and Gas conference, noted that the firm was also now heavily involved in the maintenance of fleets belonging to the Nigerian armed forces.
The firm further unveiled a 40-seater prototype water bus, which it said will support its marine transport, especially across coastal areas in the country.
Makanjuola noted that the company holds about 60 to 70 per cent market share in Nigeria, adding that when it noticed that the aviation sector was struggling with maintenance and training, it built the first ever maintenance, repair and overhaul centre in Lagos.
According to him, Nigerians do not have to fly any of their aircraft out of the country for major repairs anymore, since the company is able to take an aircraft apart, work on it and put it all back together.
“One of the interesting things is that we do that for our entire fleet and we now do third parties as well. So, the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force and even the Presidential fleet of the Benin Republic actually use our services. The idea is to create a hub in Sub Saharan Africa for this sort of operation,” he stressed.
The CEO noted that when the firm first started operations, 80 per cent of all its pilots were expatriates, while today, 75 per cent to 90 per cent are Nigerians.
Because a lot of the boats in the country were of low quality, Makanjuola said to enhance safe water travel; it came into the market to change the narrative.
He added: “We were able to build our first prototype boat which is oil industry standard, meaning that it is very safe and we are very proud of it as it is our newest project. “It can also be used as a crew boat for the International Oil Companies (IOCs). We are looking at all the riverine areas, we have got people interested in this in Akwa -Ibom, Rivers, among others.” On aviation services which Caverton started in 2004, the CEO said because Nigeria lacked a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO)facility, it has now built the first one.
On the issue of training, Makanjuola said the firm bought the first simulator facility for helicopter training.
“An hour on this simulator is an hour flying and it is really for people who want to learn how to fly,” he said.
He added that the diversification of the firm would address traffic congestion in parts of the country while moving people around safely.
