Maritime Stakeholder, Rear Admiral Godswill Ombo (rtd.) has called on the federal government to get the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), lawyers and everybody concerned to find out what is tying down a vessel MV Horten at the Marina that it could not be used to train cadets in the country.
Ombo who made this call Friday in Lagos at the second edition of A Day with the Nigerian Maritime Students with the theme; Solving the Challenges of Nigerian Maritime Students: The NIMASA Game Plan, revealed that the vessel, a mother vessel to six other vessels that had been operating with NIMASA ovetime before this administration came through the Global West Vessels Specialists and had not gone anywhere since it came into the nation’s waters.
According to him,” That vessel used to be affiliate of the Norwegian Navy. It used to serve as the vessel for the King of Norway when its original vessel was under repairs. The vessel used to serve as a training vessel and even as a command and control vessel for NATO in Norway. So, it has all the facilities, it has room to take up to 135 and can be extended to take up to 150 cadets onboard for training purposes. It is there on our waters wasting away and it is painful. If that vessel sinks today, the entire world will laugh at Nigeria and we are here crying for training vessels when we have one on our waters.
“Whatever delay that is tying that vessel from not being used, this country should quickly look at it and make that vessel operational for the training of the youths so that apart from taking them to get cargo onboard, the engineering students among them should be able to go into the engine room, work with the engine and get their competencies as engineers. The Deck officers should be able to get there and make sure they can take the ship out to the sea and bring it back alongside, that means it gives them all that they need to get their OOW certificates and as they grow later, they can get all the competencies for cargo carrying and all that. But it gives them that basic training a seaman must know either deck or engine room.
“I am imploring the government to get NIMASA and everybody concerned including the lawyers to find out what is tying that vessel down that it cannot be used in this country. It is painful”.
He noted that the very critical thing for the students was for them to get their certificate of competencies to work on vessels adding that without a sea time experience, they can’t get it.
“You have a vessel that can take a hundred and thirty of them or so being tied and it is wasting. Without them getting their sea time, they cannot work on any vessel either local or foreign. The first thing they must have after school is to get their sea time, that is their OOW or their certificate of competency”, he said.
When contacted, the Head, Corporate Communications NIMASA, Mr. Isichei Osamgbi stated that he did not have any information regarding the said vessel adding that he would take time to enquire about the status of the vessel and get back to this medium but as at press time, he was yet to do that.
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