The Nigerian maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that the United States government has confirmed that thirteen more ports facilities in Nigeria were now fully compliant with the International Ships and Ports Facilities Security (ISPS) Code.
This was contained in a press release issued last week by the agency in Lagos and was signed by the Deputy Director Public Relations, Mr. Isichei Osamgbi and made available to Primetime Reporters.
The release stated that with the latest development, the total number of compliant ports facilities in the country were twenty-two, up from nine since the last visit of the United State Coast Guard to the country.
It further stated that in a meeting between the officials of the United States government and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) recently, the US government acknowledged the effort of the agency in raising the security levels of ships and ports facilities in Nigeria and assured of its commitment to continue to partner with Nigeria to improve security measures.
According to the statement, the United states Embassy in a Diplomatic Note it earlier issued to the Nigerian government had acknowledged that although Nigeria may be facing significant difficulty in instituting the needed security measures, the progress Nigeria has made so far was well noted and the clear delineation of NIMASA as the designated authority was a positive step .
It also observed that according to the Diplomatic Note, the United States was aware of NIMASA’s effort to improve its oversight of the Nigerian ports facilities, however, the Note also stated that based on the United States Coast Guard (USCG) reports per the several visits and assessments carried out within the last six years, USCG did not find that effective anti-terrorism measures were in place in some of the nation’s ports with the exception of some notable port facilities.
The statement has it that the United States has therefore placed Nigeria on the Ports Security Advisory even as it said that only 22 ports facilities in Nigeria were fully ISPS Code Compliant.
Accordingly, Conditions of Entry (COE) had been placed on vessels originating or calling from non- compliant ports in Nigeria, which would be subjected to further security checks before being allowed into the United States of America.
“The COE are not trade sanctions and do not ban Nigerian ships from entering US ports. It does require ships however to take certain additional security related measures while at non-exempt Nigerian ports facilities… The COE has no impact on shipping traffic entering Nigerian waters and/or berthing at its ports, it deals only with shipping traffic departing Nigerian ports that is destined for the United States”, the statement quoted in part.
In a related development, the United Coast Guard according to the release has affirmed its commitment to work with the Agency to ensure that the Nigerian ports are ISPS compliant.
“After meeting the dedicated men and women at NIMASA, the ICIC team and Permanent Secretary Emodi, I am confident that you have the right people in place and support from the government of Nigeria to reach your objective and I look forward to working with you in the coming year”, the Port Security Liaison Officer of the United States Coast Guard for Europe and Africa, Lt. Commander Chad Fait was quoted.
The release recalled that the report of the United States Embassy was based on assessment carried out by the USCG over the last six years and before the last official assessment of august 2013, barely two months after NIMASA took over ISPS Code implementation in Nigeria as the designated authority in May 2013.
However, a lot of progress has been made since the last official assessment visit of USCG about 9 months ago, that showed that the compliant ports were actually more than the twenty-two reported.
Before its formal notification as the designated authority for the implementation of the ISPS Code on May 21, 2013, the statement said, there were less than 10 ports facilities that had effective anti-terrorism measures in place which number has more than doubled one year later.
It however said that the agency is currently carrying out a Verification Inspection Exercise (VIE) ac cross all Nigerian Ports facilities and security threat levels at non- compliant ports facilities would be heightened until identified improvement opportunities are address while Statement of Compliance (SoCs) would only be issued to compliant port facilities.
“The agency will continue to work tirelessly on all identified improvement opportunities while strengthening our consultation with the USCG with the goal of achieving full ISPS Code compliance and the removal of the Conditions of Entry (COE) as we crave the cooperation and support of everyone to ensure an ISPS Code Compliant nation”, the Director General of NIMASA, Ziakede Patrick Akpobolokemi reportedly said.
