As the Federal Government seems to have concluded plans to establish a new National Shipping Line, indigenous shipping operators have threatened court action if they are not carried along.
Stating this in Lagos, last week at the Maritime Technical Summit, Minister of Transport, Rt. Hon.. Rotimi Amaechi said that the Government had set up a Committee to look into the viability and modalities of the proposed national carrier.
Amaechi also disclosed that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, (CVFF), would not be used to set up the national carrier.
He said that Nigerian and foreign investors would be brought in to fund the establishment of the new shipping line.
According to the Minister, the shipping line is being set up with a view to creating jobs and growing the economy.
Worried by their seeming exclusion in the move by the government, the indigenous ship operators led by the founding chairman of the Nigerian Shipowners Association of Nigeria, (NISA), Chief Isaac Jolapamo told the Minister that his group would go to court if they were not carried along in the process of establishing the shipping line.
Speaking in similar vein, Nigeria’s former registrar of ship, Engr Olu Akinsoji said that said that establishing a national carrier is part of the solution to some challenges facing the maritime industry.
Akinsoji however warned that there must be a foundation before a country builds its infrastructure, adding that government presence must be involved in the administration and running of the shipping firm.
“A National Carrier is part of the solution, but there must be a foundation before you can build, I buy the idea of a national carrier but who is going to run it.
“Even if you have foreigners as major partners administering it, there must still a government agency in charge of it
“It cannot be a Nigerian ship, flying a Nigerian flag without any administrative input by Nigeria.
“It has to be registered, and the registrar must be capable,the facilities must be Nigerian and there must be an agency that will be in charge of it.” Akinsoji added
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Speaking at the event, the President of the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES), Engr. Charles Uwadia blamed the present failure in the nation’s Maritime sector on the lack of in-depth technical input in maritime policies and their implementation, in line with international best practices and realities.
Welcoming stakeholders and participants to the AMES Maritime Technical Summit at the Sheraton Hotel, the AMES President also noted that the declining standard in quality and profitability of ships of Nigerian flag can also be traced to poor technical standards occasioned by ship owners’ reluctance to comply with national and international standards and regulations.
“There is a need for a holistic review of the Nigerian Maritime human capacity development”, Uwadia indicated, stressing that the Government, the institutional platforms and the stakeholders must collaborate, and synergize if the country would ever be able to strategically move it’s Maritime industry forward.
“There is a need for a holistic review of the Nigerian Maritime human capacity development”, Uwadia indicated, stressing that the Government, the institutional platforms and the stakeholders must collaborate, and synergize if the country would ever be able to strategically move it’s Maritime industry forward.
Building smartly on a strong foundation laid by Uwadia, as an attentive audience which included the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, former Ekiti Governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, former Ogun State Governor, Chief Segun Osoba, the founder, Indigenous Ship-owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Chief Isaac Jolapamo, Senator Olorunimbe Mamowora, Barrister Kola Adefemi and the Chairman, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Greg Ogbeifun; a Resource person, Engr. Emmanuel Ilori admonished the audience to refocus, positing that Nigeria by now, based on established tonnage, should be on category ‘B’; even as he grieved that the country was yet to master it’s status on Category ‘C’.
“We should be on the Category B of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council. Nigeria should be able to dominate the African – Atlantic waters”, highlighted Ilori, a Lloyds Ambassador, pointing out that when we however shortchanged on professionalism, we also discounted, heavily on our ability to compete, and emphasized the need for going back to drawing board and working for further improvement.
