There is a particular kind of pride that belongs only to institutions built from nothing but nerve and vision; the kind that outlives its founder's original ambition and grows into something the whole nation leans on. That is the story Port Harcourt gathered to celebrate on Friday, July 10, 2026 , as Starzs Investments Company Limited marked forty years since a modest indigenous shipping outfit first sent a tug out onto Nigerian waters.
The symposium, themed "Anchoring Resilience: 40 Years of Private Indigenous Initiative, Shaping Nigeria's Maritime Future," brought together government officials, maritime regulators, bankers, shipowners and industry veterans at EUI Event Centre, GRA Phase 3, Port Harcourt.
A Story That Started Small
In his address, Founder and Chairman Engr. Greg U. Ogbeifun did not pretend the journey was easy. Starzs, he told the room, began life in the mid-1980s with little beyond ambition acquiring its first tugboat, "Starzs Pusher I," and starting shallow water operations before the company had any real claim to being a shipping company at all. What followed was four decades of deliberate, often difficult growth: offshore operations with Shell's fleet by 2002, a landmark 2007 win the first Nigerian company to secure a newbuild offshore service tug tender from Total Energies and, in 2009, the launch of MV Osayame, recognised as Nigeria's first Nigerian Content-compliant ASD Terminal Tug crewed entirely by Nigerians.
The milestones kept coming. In 2011, the company established the Starzs Cadetship Programme, which has since trained more than 100 cadets. In 2018, it launched MV Osanyamo, the largest ASD tug Damen Shipyard had built in its class at the time. By 2022, Starzs vessels were being commended by Samsung Heavy Industries and NIMASA for safely repositioning and towing the EGINA FPSO from the LADOL jetty in adverse weather the kind of operation that separates serious maritime operators from the rest.
Ogbeifun was candid that none of this was ever really about vessels or balance sheets. "Our greatest asset has always been our people," he said the employees who believed in a vision before it had proven itself, the clients who trusted the company with critical operations, and the partners, particularly government agencies, financial institutions and maritime stakeholders, who stood by Starzs through both prosperous and difficult seasons.
Passing the Wheel
Perhaps the most significant thread running through the anniversary was succession, a subject many Nigerian family businesses struggle to navigate gracefully. In 2021, leadership transitioned to a second generation, with Iroghama Ogbeifun, the founder's own daughter, stepping in as Managing Director and CEO, despite not coming from a maritime background herself. Ogbeifun described the transition not as an effort to preserve a family legacy, but to preserve the values the company was built on, while opening the door to new energy and innovation. Under her leadership, Starzs has continued expanding, obtaining a recruiter's licence for manpower services in 2023 and, in 2024, registering Starzs Liberia, its first major expansion outside Nigeria.
Government and Industry Show Up
The symposium's programme reflected just how central Starzs has become to conversations about Nigeria's maritime future. Hon. Adegboyega Oyetola, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, was represented by Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Director General of NIMASA, who delivered a keynote on the Federal Government's roadmap for the blue economy and the institutional value of long-standing private sector investment. A documentary chronicling the company's four decades was formally screened, followed by a fireside chat on the blueprint for maritime resilience and operational excellence.
Panel discussions tackled some of the industry's most persistent challenges, fleet renewal and dry-docking access, capital pooling for indigenous shipowners, cabotage enforcement, and the governance reforms needed at NIMASA, the Nigerian Shippers' Council and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to drive more inclusive growth.
Among those featured were
Mr. Silas Ajimijaye Ag. Director of Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS) - Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
Ms. Adaora Nwonu, Deputy Director of Trade and Services Division - Nigerian Shippers' Council.
Dr. Paul Adalikwu, Secretary General - Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa.
Abubakar Dantsoho, Managing Director - Nigerian Ports Authority.
Emmanuel Maiguwa, CEO Bricks Murstern Mattoni Ltd, President - Maritime Security Providers Association of Nigeria (MASPAN).
Vivian Chimezie-Azubuike, Director General - Nigerian Chamber of Shipping.
Mr Sonny Eja, President - Ship Owners Association of Nigeria.
Ms. Oluwatoyin Aina, Group Head - CBD Energy First Bank.
Mrs. Bassey Alorye Adie, MD/CEO - Loyz Marine Services Ltd.
Otunba Sola Adewnmi, President, Nigerian Indigenous Ship Owners Association.
Mr. Abdul-Kadir K Ahmed, MD/CEO - NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Ltd (NSML).
Sir (Dr.) Charles K. Wami of Charkin Maritime & Offshore Safety Centre.
Amb.Dr. Paul Adalikwu, Secretary General - Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA)
Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Director General and CEO of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)
Abubakar Dantsoho, Managing Director of The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
Dr. Ernest Nwapa, Pioneer Executive Secretary - Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
Eng. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Executive Secretary - Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
Mrs. Ebehi Ehi- Omoike, Managing Director - LECON Finance Company Limited
A Company Built on Values
Beyond the accolades, Starzs used the occasion to reaffirm the values it says have carried it through forty years: safety, integrity, value creation, and respect for the individual principles the company says shape everything from its logistics and manpower services, to how it treats the men and women who crew its vessels. Today, its client list reads like a who's-who of Nigeria's oil and gas sector, including Chevron, Total Energies, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), Exxon Mobil, Oriental Energy Resources Limited, Antan Producing Limited, Inter Oil Angola, and Perenco, among others.
Closing the day's proceedings, Ogbeifun struck a note of quiet confidence about what lies ahead. "The foundations have been laid. The vision remains strong. The next generation is prepared," he said, thanking the employees, clients, regulators, host communities and families who had walked the journey with the company. "May future generations look back on this gathering and say that those assembled here helped build a truly remarkable Nigerian maritime institution."
For a city that has watched Starzs grow from a single tugboat into a fleet trusted with some of the most demanding offshore operations in West Africa, forty years felt less like an anniversary and more like a milestone in an ongoing story, one Port Harcourt has every reason to claim as its own.
Starzs Investments Company Limited is headquartered at 15 Omerelu Street, GRA Phase 3, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with additional offices at the Onne Oil & Gas Free Zone and Victoria Island, Lagos.
Written by Barisuka Lewis
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