Dersko Marine Group, a consortium of international technical investors in the nation-'s oil and gas industry, has identified the benefits of developing and operating a Deepwater Port in the country.

The company, which is poised towards the establishment of the port in Onna Local Government area of Akwa Ibom State, said the project would boost the growth of the nation-'s economy.

Speaking with Daily Independent in Eket during the project development conference, President of the group and Lead Promoter of the project, Isao Koide, explained that the project would not help save foreign exchange for the country, it would also earn revenue for the development of the economy in general.

Identified as fifth in the world, and the first in the whole of Africa , Koide said there are only four of its kind in the world.

The mission for embarking on the project, he explained, is for the company, which he said is a highly rated engineering and technical player in the industry, is to help it become the "premier provider of deepwater port, multi-modal transport terminal, modular fabrication yard, tabular steel mill, oil and gas tank farm, dry and graving docks and integration of floating, production storage and offloading (FPSO)vessels, topside facilities in the country-'s Niger Delta region."

The project development layout of indicates the component facilities at the deepwater port to include a tank farm with an installed capacity of 400,000 metric tonnes of various petroleum products; 18 deepwater berths with 24.5metres depth facilities for FPSO-'s, FSO-'s VCCL vessels with four separate berths of 420 metres. According to him, there wouuld also be a 26 metres direct channel to the Atlantic Ocean with a fairway buoy ahead of control signals approximately 45 Nautical Miles Channel and Canal that would lead to the creation of a 400 metres wide by 25.6 metres depth Modular Akwa Ibom Seaway Channel Canal at the east side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Explaining more direct benefits of the project to the nation-'s economy, Group Managing Director of Dersko Marine, Weizman Atemugaghan, noted that the huge capital flight associated with marine and off-shore operations which run into billions of dollars, would be conserved for the country, while additional hundreds of billions from services rendered would accrue to the country.

The GMD, who said that 90 days from the last week of June 2008 (around the end of September 2008)the comprehensive design of the project would have come out, expressed confidence that the first phase of the project would see to the construction of 30,000 units of two-bedroom flats for off-shore workers of the facility.

Describing President Umaru Musa Yar-'Adua as an investment-conscious president, whose "sincerity and love for the country and the Niger Delta region sustained the interest of the investors who nearly took the project elsewhere", the GMD, who is also a high profile engineer of experiences that span decades, assured that the project will reduce the unemployment phenomenon in the region and in the country.

A highly respected statesman from the Eket axis of the state, General Anthony Etukudo (rtd), praised youths of the state, particularly those from the various communities around the area for their maturity in encouraging the siting of people-oriented projects in the area.

Etukudo expressed confidence that all stakeholders in the project have showed commitment that should see to the early kick-off of the project immediately without delay, for the overall interest of the country.

Executive Director of Base Operations, Security and Inter-Governmental Matters, Bassey David, who expressed happiness of the community to have the project sited in its locality, promised the company the cooperation necessary to see its operations succeed.

On completion of the first phase of the project, it is estimated that a little over 110, 000 job opportunities would be created, while the second and third phases would raise the job opportunities to more than 300, 000.

David further said that the employment the Deepwater port project would bring "will be reduce the crises in the region, and integrate youths into the process of creative contribution to the overall development of the area in particular, and the country as a whole."