José Carlos Figueiredo, managing partner of Kianda Naval, talks to The Energy Year about building up Angola’s shipbuilding capabilities and the cost advantages enabled by local manufacturing and maintenance.
Kianda Naval is a shipyard specialising in the construction of offshore support vessels for oil and gas projects.
- Local content can extend beyond services into manufacturing. Domestic shipbuilding creates opportunities in engineering, technical assembly, technology transfer and higher-value industrial activity.
- Naval manufacturing requires a demanding industrial ecosystem. Certified vessel construction depends on specialised machinery, qualified labour, certified materials, precise procedures and international standards.
- Locally built vessels can improve offshore reliability. Domestic maintenance, repair and technical support can shorten response times, reduce downtime and make lifecycle costs more predictable.
What was the ambition behind creating local naval manufacturing capability from scratch, and what does it mean for Angola’s maritime sector to have vessels built on home soil?
The ambition was to prove that Angola can build complex industrial capability locally, not only consume or import it. A shipyard, especially an aluminium shipyard working to produce internationally certified vessels, is a very demanding business. It requires specialised machinery, strict procedures, international standards, certified materials, qualified labour and a culture of precision.
We were very fortunate to find in Angola a workforce that is capable, motivated and eager to develop. With the right training, supervision and standards, Angolan specialised labour can reach an international level of performance. That is one of the most important messages of this project.
Building internationally certified aluminium vessels in Angola after 50 years of independence is more than an industrial milestone. It is a statement about what the country is ready to do. It shows that the Angolan industry can move into more technical, more demanding and higher-value activities. It also shows that local content should not be limited to services around major industries, but can include real manufacturing, engineering and technology transfer.
For Angola’s maritime sector, this is important because vessels are strategic assets. They support oil and gas, ports, fisheries, coastal control, naval operations, maritime safety and national sovereignty. If Angola can begin to build and maintain these assets locally, the country will become less dependent on external supply chains and start creating a stronger maritime industrial base.
What cost and reliability advantages do locally built vessels offer to oil and gas operators compared to imported assets?
We are still at an early stage, and we do not pretend that local manufacturing can immediately replace every imported solution. At the moment, we are able to build vessels for specific operational requirements, particularly workboats and patrol-type vessels. But even at this stage, local construction creates a different value proposition.
For oil and gas operators, the advantage is not only the vessel. It is the ability to adapt, maintain, repair and support it locally. This can improve response times, reduce downtime and make costs more predictable over time. It also creates local employment, local technical knowledge and a stronger support ecosystem for offshore operations.
However, for this to scale, Angola’s oil and gas operators and the ANPG [National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency] need to start incorporating local industry into their business models. We understand why this has been difficult. The oil and gas industry works under very tight timelines, responds to commodity price volatility and must meet obligations between partners and with the state. Sometimes local industry needs time to respond, and that does not always fit the rhythm of the sector.
But if local industry is never given space to participate, it will never mature. We do not need the industry to take unrealistic risks. We need it to start investing, even modestly, in Angolan manufacturing capability. That is how local content moves from policy to real industrial capacity.
What are Kianda’s capabilities and facilities, and what range of services are you offering to clients today?
Kianda is currently building aluminium workboats of approximately 16.5 metres, designed for demanding operational environments. Our first vessels are being developed for security-related services, but the design is versatile and can be adapted to several uses in the maritime and offshore sectors.
These vessels can serve oil and gas operators, port authorities, pilotage services, maritime police, coast guard-type operations, naval patrol missions and general coastal control. They are useful platforms for security, transport, inspection, patrol and operational support.
Our immediate focus is the Angolan market, but we are also positioning these vessels for the international market. Angola could become not only a user of maritime assets, but a producer and exporter of specialised workboats for the region.
Today, our capabilities are focused on aluminium vessel construction, technical assembly, outfitting, integration and support for specific workboat designs. As the yard develops, we want to expand into additional vessel types, including crew transport boats, cargo support boats and more complex offshore support vessels.
The key requirement is demand. With the right incentives and with the support of clients willing to include local industry in their procurement strategies, Angola can develop a serious naval manufacturing capability. Kianda is still at the beginning of that journey and is naturally facing the challenges of being a pioneer, but the foundation is now in place.