…tasks indigenous shipowners on specialized vessels
Following the persistent calls by the indigenous shipowners under the auspices of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) and other relevant stakeholders that the waiver regime be removed from the Cabotage Act to give room for full participation of the indigenous people in the shipping sector, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has given reasons why it may not be possible to remove waiver presently.
Speaking on the sideline of the World Press Conference organized by NIMASA in Lagos last week, the Executive Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Development, NIMASA, Capt. Ezekiel Bala Agaba stated that it has to be so at least for now because Nigerians engaged in the vessel operations did not have the specialized vessels required for the oil and gas operation compared to their foreign counterparts who were currently granted waivers to perform such operations.
Capt. Agaba explained that it would be counterproductive stripping the foreigners of the waivers now when indeed there were no Nigerian to take over the operation from them at the moment.
According to him,” but what you should ask in the first place is why are waivers being granted? If you request for a vessel and then the vessel is not available in this country, what do you expect the oil companies to do? To close up?”
“So, they need to request and say look, Nigerians don’t have this type of vessel, this foreign vessel is available, can you give a waiver so that we can use it, when the Nigerian companies get their own vessels, these foreign vessels can go and then he Nigerian vessels can come in”.
He observed that Nigerians needed to understand that operations of the oil and gas adding that the indigenous shipowners in an effort to acquire vessels, should acquire vessels that could be used in the oil and gas operations and not the ones that would cause accident and environmental pollution while sailing on international waters.
Capt. Agaba however advised Nigerians to come together and buy specialized vessels required to carry out oil and gas operations as against the idea of owing their own individual shipping companies even when they don’t have what it takes to run those companies.
“Oil and gas is specific about certain jobs. We must provide the proper equipment to do the job. So, my advice to the shippers is that they should team up, this individual thing, I must own a ship of my own should stop. Let them team up, buy one big vessel and develop from there”, he said.
Reacting on how soon should Nigerian expect the new National Carrier proposed by the agency, he advised that Nigerians should not be in a haste to have the National Shipping line come on board as adequate preparation must be made to avoid the mistake of the past.
He disclosed that the proposed National Carrier would be run by the private individuals who would have stakes in the project so as not to run it aground the way the National Shipping Line was run down.
He said,’ NIMASA is going to get involved with stakeholders, discuss with them, this is what we are going to do, how much are you going to bring in and from there, we move on and we get the line up. It is not sometthing you run into or jump into, I don’t think so”.
On the cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), Capt. Agaba revealed that NIMASA had make recommendations to have some of the indigenous shipowners benefit from the fund to enable them acquire the specialized vessels so as to enable them take part in the oil and gas operations in the country.
He further said that all the capacity being built by the agency for the indigenous shippers were geared towards giving them the working environment that would enable them excel in the shipping industry and become major players in the industry globally.
“And when it comes to ship yard, if you own a vessel, you must dry dock it. Taking the vessels outside Nigeria, of course, you know is very expensive. That is the more reason why we are building the ship yard so that when the ship yard is running, ship owners can take their ships there instead of taking them to Ghana , Cotonou and all the rest”, he said.
