Dangote Refinery has begun utilizing vessels from Angola to transport its crude oil and refined products due to the unavailability of suitable ships within Nigeria, industry leaders have revealed.
At the 2025 Maritime Law Seminar held in Lagos, President of the African Shipowners Association in Nigeria, Ladi Olubowale, confirmed the development.
According to him, the choice to outsource shipping operations to Angola stems from the inability of Nigerian shipowners to provide vessels capable of handling the refinery’s large-scale maritime logistics.
“We simply do not have the right kind of ships needed for Dangote’s petroleum products. We lack Supermax vessels, Suezmax vessels, and Aframax vessels,” Olubowale stated.
A retired ship captain, Olubowale stressed that Nigeria’s maritime sector is currently ill-equipped for deep-water operations, warning that the country would continue to miss major opportunities like this unless significant capacity is built.
He further noted that this shortfall has caused Nigeria to lose out on key logistics segments within Dangote Refinery’s operations.
Echoing the concern, Captain Tajudeen Alao, President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, disclosed to that Dangote had initially approached Nigerian shipowners to handle distribution of its products to other West African nations but found no operators that met the necessary standards.
He urged the Federal Government to fast-track the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund to empower local shipping companies to take advantage of logistics opportunities from Dangote’s refinery and other regional operations.
