Shipyard Impact Assessment for a Sustainable Ships’ Maintenance and Repair Activity in West Africa

Abstract

The shipping nations over time have opted to own their ship-docking facilities for the maintenance of their fleets. Several shipyards are located in African ports, to offer ships maintenance and repair service to ships trading in African countries territorial waters. The shipowners generally prefer the shipyards which are nearby the trading routes of their vessels to optimize the operational cost. This encourage the governments of the coastal countries located in strategic shipping trading lines to invest in constructing shipyard. Senegal is one of these countries that has a big shipyard, managed by a European shipyard. However, it is important to conduct an assessment of the economic, social and environmental impact of shipyards in order to ensure a sustainable ships maintenance and repair activity and to reduce its environmental impact. This paper addresses this assessment, taking as case study the shipyard DAKARNAVE located in the port of Dakar, situated in west African coast.