Tema Shipyard and Drydock Limited (TSY) has recorded revenue growth exceeding 55 percent within a single year, as vessels that had long diverted to competing facilities in the sub-region return to Tema on the back of faster turnaround times and a visible improvement in operational standards.
The turnaround at the state-owned facility, one of the largest drydock complexes between Southern Europe and Southern Africa, marks a significant reversal for an industrial asset that had been largely idle and commercially marginalised for years. When current management took over, the yard had only 22 permanent staff. That number has since grown to 85 direct employees, with more than 450 indirect jobs generated through active projects.
Chief Executive Officer Alhaji Osman Sulemana has led the recovery since his appointment, supported by a reconstituted Board of Directors chaired by Dr. George Sipa Adjah Yankey. The board was inaugurated in February 2026, with the Transport Minister charging members to modernise infrastructure, explore public-private partnerships, and address the bottlenecks that had undermined the yard’s regional competitiveness.
TSY is now actively expanding beyond its traditional ship repair mandate into fabrication, offshore services, and shipbuilding, creating new revenue streams intended to sustain the facility’s growth beyond the current recovery cycle. The facility operates two drydocks — the larger measuring 277 metres in length and 46 metres in width, and a smaller dock measuring 106 by 12.6 metres — with vessels from Nigeria and other African countries regularly using the facility for repairs that can run from two weeks to more than six months.
Sulemana has noted that the shipyard will require over US$50 million to fully restore age-old infrastructure that has seen little investment since the facility was built, and has said President Mahama is working to secure financing, describing it as a topic raised with investors during the President’s visit to Singapore.
Separately, management firmly dismissed recent claims that the shipyard was involved in fish farming or fish sales, describing the reports as entirely false. The controversy arose on April 6, 2026, when a large number of dead fish were discovered floating near the shipyard’s slipway during a routine disinfestation exercise. The shipyard maintains the fish had died elsewhere and drifted into its vicinity. Four government agencies, including the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Fisheries Commission, are conducting an investigation into the incident.
