Namdock, the company operating a floating dock at Walvis Bay port, repaired its first oilrig last year. The next oilrig is expected to arrive in November. It will be in Walvis Bay for two and a half months. Walvis Bay is closer to the oil fields along the West Coast of Africa and with these operations the country is steadily gaining recognition as a preferential marine rapair centre, said Anton Pretorius, Managing Director of Namdock.

The first oilrig, which was repaired in 2006 at Walvis Bay port by Namdock. A second oilrig is expected to arrive in November for repairs.

The floating dock was bought early last year by Elgin Brown & Hamer Namibia in a joint venture with Namibia Ports Authorities.
Prior to that, ship repairing was only available in Cape Town and Durban.
“This was a deliberate effort by NamPort to intensify ship-repair activities with the aim of job creation and economic development,” the CEO of NamPort, Sebby Kankondi, said.
The dock was bought in Malta for N$30 million.
Namdock has the capacity to lift vessels of up to 150 metres long, 25 metres wide and with a weight of up to 8 500 metric tonnes.
Namdock has a turnover of around N$100 million, 90% of which is business generated from outside the country.
Pretorius said a feasibility study is presently underway to determine the viability of extending the operations by purchasing a second floating dock, which could be in operations within 12 months of purchase.
“This will require a further N$70 million in capital injection and has the potential to increase the turnover to N$200 million mark with similar increase in the employment opportunities.”
There are 270 people currently employed by Namdock with a further 75 person employed indirectly through subcontracting companies.
Due to the company's exposure to technology from the offshore oil industry, know-how is systematically being transferred to Namibians and the existing skills upgraded to first world standards,” said Pretorius.