The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Ship owners seek enforcement of Cabotage Act

    Indigenous ship owners have criticised the Federal Government for not enforcing the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable them participate in crude oil lifting.

    A member of the group, Captain Niyi Labinjo, urged the government to implement the law to allow indigenous firms to participate in oil business.

    The country, he said, exports about 2.5 million barrels of oil yearly, wondering why indigenous ship owners are not empowered to lift about 1.5 million barrels.

    The banks, the former ISAN scribe said, are willing to give them loans if the government could give them some quantities of crude to carry.

    He cited Brazil where the government approves about 700 agencies, to issue certificates of compliance on local content.

    Labinjo said about five years ago, the government trained 200 cadets under the National Seafarers Development Programme. He noted that since there were not enough shipping firms to work with, the cadets have been jobless.

    He advised the government to provide enough funds for the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, to enable the academy to produce cadets.

    He, therefore, sought proper compliance with Nigerian Content Act and encouragement of the association to participate fully in the cabotage regime.

    “We will continue to press the government. We’ll continue to make our views known about the need for proper compliance with cabotage; about the need for proper compliance with the Nigerian Content Act.

    “For instance, if I have a government that is insisting that this year out of the 2.5 million barrels of oil that Nigeria exports, 1.5 million barrels would be carried by Nigerians and they say, ‘ISAN take this 1.5 million barrels, go and carry it,’ we will gladly go to the bank; the bank will give us money and we will do it.

    “So, if you say what is our expectation; then, we will say this year we will struggle to carry the one million the government has given to us and hopefully by next year, we will do 1.5 million barrels. That is the expectation.

    “That is what has happened in the case of Brazil. Their government insists that they must use local content and the government approved about 700 agencies, which were issuing certificates of compliance on local content.

    “So, if you are producing this locally and it is being used by the oil and gas sector, someone will intend to continue to do it,” he said.

     

  • Govt advised to expedite action on railway

    The Federal Government has been advised to place emphasis on railway development to facilitate the haulage of goods, especially heavy ones being transported by road.

    An expert in marine transport and Principal Partner at Multi-system Consult, Dr Wale Adetigba, said the interconnectivity of the rail to waterways was important.

    “Marine transport is a component part of transportation system and from my professional training and experience, marine transport cannot operate in isolation from other modes of transportation, especially with rail system,” he said.

    An importer, Chief Augustine Alfred, said if the link was right, the cost of goods in the market would be reduced.

    “When goods come into the country, the only means of distribution is by road. Unfortunately, the roads are bad. My position is that we need to revisit the rail that is missing in our transport system. As long as the rail system is absent, it will be difficult to have problem-free port operations. The cost of port operation will continue to be high,” he stressed.

    He said the port system was being automated, noting that the Federal Government has to respond to the global thinking of mechanisation.

    He, however, added that expertise and modern equipment were needed to operate an efficient port system.

    According to Alfred, marine transport is essential to the  economy. Without marine transport, Nigeria would have been landlocked and its economy would have remained stagnant in various areas, he added.

  • ‘High interest rate killing shipping’

    The Federal Government has been urged to reduce interest rates to enable ship owners upgrade their facilities and compete with foreigners.

    In an interview with The Nation in Lagos, some stakeholders urged the government to build a vibrant investment climate for the maritime sector.

    Former Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Compliance, Mr Moruf Akinderu-Fatai, said there should be policies to create linkages between the maritime industry and other sectors, such as banking and manufacturing.

    He suggested measures like a dedicated institutional financing mechanism for the shipping and maritime sector, a comprehensive maritime regulatory policy, to delineate the roles and responsibilities of the government and private sector in the development of the maritime sector and building.

    The purchase of modern vessels, Akinderu-Fatai, a shipper, said, would also provide jobs for millions of Nigerians and the restive youths across the country.

    He said there was a need for a sustained partnership between the private and public sectors for effective funding.

    The country, he said, had not enjoyed the commercial benefits of transporting large quantities of cargoes because the local ship owners lack the necessary capital.

    He suggested that the Federal Government should integrate maritime education and training into the university system so that Nigerians who are interested in seafarers’training could get the necessary education needed to promote the sector.

    While lamenting the lack of foreign exposure for better performance, he said many operators were bugged down with only practical experience, with little or no academic performance.

    “There is need for more government intervention aside from CVFF to actively encourage the banking sector to support local ship owners to acquire modern fleet, which can sail anywhere in the world,” he said.

    Vice  President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto, said 60 per cent of the inward and outward bound seaborne trade in the West and Central Africa sub-region passes through the nation waterways and called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi to assist in developing the maritime industry.

    He said the country should expand its merchant fleet based on the high volume of bulk liquid, gas and dry cargoes that pass through its waterways.

    “The fleet to carry the enormous quantity of cargo is estimated at 200 size tankers including combo general cargo vessels and liquefied natural gas vessels,” he said

  • NIMASA plans to make over $400m yearly from ship chandling

    Nigeria Maritime Administration Safety Agency  (NIMASA) Director-General (DG) Dr Dakuku Peterside has developed a blueprint that will enable the country make over $400 million yearly from ship chandling.

    A senior Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) official, told The Nation, that Peterside is concerned that foreigners and non-professional chandlers are supplying essential com-modities to ships, including  Floating Production Storage Offshore Vessels (FPSOVs), oil rigs, platforms, supply boats and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels.

    The illegal practice, he said, had resulted in capital flight.

    The official alleged that some of those in the business obtained their licences from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

    Peterside, the official said, was working on an updated record of authentic professionals in the business.

    “Lack of regulation of the profession was partly responsible for the criminal activities on the nation’s territorial waters and that is why NIMASA is taking the bold move to end the cycle of criminalities in our waters and seas.”

    He described the business as a most lucrative one.

    Ship chandling, established in Nigeria through an Act in 1958, comprises retail dealers who supply equipment and goods for ships.

    Items that could be found in a chandlery may include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch (resin), linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum and tools (hatchet, axe, hammer, chisel, planes, lantern, nail, spike, boat hook, caulking iron, hand pump, (marlinspike).

    Others are brooms, mops, galley supplies, leather goods, and paper. Items that could be supplied by the modern day chandlers range from foodstuff, drinks, oil, engine oil, water,  spares to materials that the Captain of the ship may require.

    Former Nigeria Licensed Customs Clearing Agents (ANLCA) President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said though the Local Content Act was to address such issues, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board was yet to understand the dynamics of local content in ship chandling.

    He said the country loses billions of naira yearly due to the low level of activities in the ship chandling sub-sector. He urged NIMASA to co-ordinate the statutes guiding ship chandling to harness it to create jobs for the youth and boost the economy.

    Ship of 5,000 Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT), he said, would require about $50,000 monthly for food, pharmaceuticals, oil, lubricants and other things to go to sea and return to port.

    Shittu said the NCS has the power to enforce as well as carry out the requisite training to understand the dynamics of how this aspect of the maritime business is run.

    “NIMASA and the Federal Government must do something about the business. The country must use all the resources we have to provide jobs for our people. Other countries are using ship chandel-ling to empower their youths and there is nothing wrong if we also tap into it,” he said.

    But an importer, Mr Shola Adedayo, alleged that port operators were charging indige-nous chandlers about 20 per cent of the total cost of the goods to be supplied. “They collect the money before they allow the goods to pass through their terminals for supply to the crew inside ships,” he said.

  • Lawyers seek review of FoB policy

    The Free-on-Board (FoB) policy is causing the country a huge loss, maritime lawyers and ship owners have said.

    They are praying the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director (MD) Ms Hadiza Usman and Nigerian Maritime Admini-stration  Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General (DG) Dr Dakuku Peterside  to champion a review of the policy.

    FoB allows a buyer to pay for the shipment and landing costs of goods from the port of origin.

    A maritime lawyer, Mr Felix Adeyemo, urged the Federal Government to adopt Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) for the lifting of crude oil.

    CIF, he said, gives the seller the right to arrange for the ferrying of goods by sea to a port of destination, and provide the buyer with the documents necessary to collect them from the carrier.

    Another maritime lawyer, Mr Muhammed Adegoroye, said the failure to enforce the NIMASA Act, 2007, 10 years after its enactment was a major part on the problem.

    He said Nigeria is the only country still using the FoB policy.

    A member of the Ship Owners Association, Mrs Margaret Orakuwsi, said indigenous shipping firms have over the years been grappling with lack of cargo support, adding that this has made many of them to close shop, despite other legislations such as the Cabotage Act, 2003 and Nigerian Content Act 2010.

    “The policy is being used to the detriment of the economy,” she said.

    Mrs Orakuwsi, who is also a lawyer, said the adoption of either the CIF or FoB policy by the Federal Government should be based on how the policy is of advantage to the parties involved in the shipping.

    The intention of the Cabotage Act, she added, was to give indigenous shipping firms the support to enable them to compete with their foreign counterparts, who have usurped the cargoes on the international shipping route, the coastal and inland region.

  • Survey: why Lagos, other ports are expensive

    Why are the country’s ports considered the most expensive in West Africa? It is because of multiple import charges, investigation has shown.

    The charges are hindering the government’s trade facilitation programme. But other sub-regional ports, including  Cotonou’s, are thriving.

    Besides, tracing capability and speed, poor yard planning and spacing, online accessibility of pricing and quick debt note reconciliation, among others, make the ports expensive.

    Others include low level of automation and integration of handling process by government agencies with major stakeholders such as terminal operators, importers, truck drivers and clearing agents; poor infrastructure investment profile by the government; unstreamlined movement of containers per crane, per hour from ships to stacking position and the trucks.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Vice President Dr Kayode Farinto blamed the high cost of cargo processing at the ports on these factors.

    Importers, Farinto said, cleared many charges before taking their goods out of the ports, urging the government to reduce the cost of doing business at the ports. Importers pay Customs duties and levies that are not uniform in most of the nation’s sea ports.

    Other tariffs that make the ports expensive are the seven per cent development levy; one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme; 0.5 per cent  ECOWAS Trade Liberation Scheme (ETLS); NIMASA/NPA Sea Protection Levy (SPL); haulage cost – transportation per TEU and terminal operator progressive stage charges. Importers also pay terminal operator documentation; terminal operator examination; terminal operator scan fee; terminal operator loading fee; terminal operator delivery; terminal operator handling and terminal operator labour fees.

    They also pay shipping line demurrage; shipping line agency; shipping line documentation; shipping lines telex release; shipping line container deposit fees; terminal operators two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line minimum of one month grace for container deposit refund; freight forwarders professional fee – unstreamlined; and several inconsiderate charges at the bounded terminals, among others.

    Lagos Shippers Association President Mr Jonathan Nicol said the five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) and the one per cent Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) charge were some of the charges. The others are the 35 per cent Automobile Levy and the Common External Tariff Levy. According to him, the combined charges on one consignment affect shipper’s profit. He urged the Federal Government to address industrialists’ cry to reduce the charges.

    According to him, the Federal Ministry of Finance should provide leadership in managing the problems of the shipping community.

    The shippers’ boss said the government should think about the huge investments in building the seaports and maritime prospects in the next 20 years to attract more cargoes. Nicol also suggested that plans must be made to secure and promote local industries, the manufacturing sector and the shippers. He noted that it was the duty of the government to encourage private entrepreneurs to contribute to the economy’s growth.

    “When you add the costs of generating power in a factory with salaries, these costs cannot be by-passed whether you like it or not. You must provide power for your factory and you must pay staff salaries,” he said. Nicol said the bottlenecks at the ports wee responsible for the government’s appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator.

    He condemned the govern-ment’s inability to enforce the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable indigenous ship owners participate in crude oil lifting. A maritime lawyer, Mr Dipo Alaka, berated the government for not streamlining the charges.

    “To make matters worse, importers and clearing agents are compelled to pay demurrage on containers for the numbers of days containers remain at the port, even when there is system breakdown caused by the service providers.

    “Importers used to pay for terminal handling charges, container cleaning charges, manifest amendment upon request by an importer, container deposit (refundable) and container demurrage,” he added.

     

  • Female shippers get seat in IMO council

    Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) said, it had secured a seat at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the apex regulatory body for maritime activities globally.

    The President of WISTA Nigeria, Mrs Mary Hamman, told The Nation on the sideline of the association’s 2018 annual business luncheon in Lagos.

    Hamman said that WISTA’s consultative status at the IMO would avail the association the opportunity to promote diversity, inclusion and women’s empowerment in the global body.

    “WISTA can now formally contribute to the discussion for increasing capacity in the maritime industry; both shore side and onboard ships.

    “The association’s efforts are to support the overarching principles in IMO’s strategic plan, especially the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women,” she said.

    The Chairman of the occasion, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho, urged the association to play more active role in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), noting that the organisation was critical in the affairs of global trade.

    Ihenacho, who is also the Chairman of Intergrated Oil and Gas Limited, urged the association to take steps that would give the association more significant representation at the IMO Council.Also speaking, a veteran Master Mariner, Capt. Adewale Ishola, praised WISTA Nigeria for sponsoring the nation’s first female Master Mariner.

    Ishola also lauded the association for empowering women groups with the purchase of fishing boats, fishing nets, boat engines for women in various parts of the country.

    He gave kudos to the association for sponsoring female cadets which had led to the emergence of the first female Nigerian Master Mariner currently employed with oil giant, Shell.

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, also commended the association for its contribution to the growth and development of the nation’s maritime industry.

    Peterside, who was represented by the Director, Special Duties Hajia Lami Tumaka, praised the association for its contribution to the growth and development of the nation’s maritime industry.

    He noted that several female cadets have graduated with First Class honours in the ongoing Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).

    Peterside assured the association that the agency was passionate about developing the female brand at the agency and the entire maritime sector.

    The event also featured the launch of a WISTA magazine which was used in celebrating the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), MS Hadiza Bala-Usman, for her dedication to her duties.

    The Acting General Manager, Corporate and Communication Strategic of NPA, Mr Isah Suwaid, represented the NPA boss at the occasion.

  • High seas becoming safe, says ministry official

    The Federal Government through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA) is doing everything to ensure safety on the high seas, a top government official has said.

    According to him: “The seas are sullen and the Federal Government through NIMASA is making them to become more secure for the people who sail them.

    “Although the African ocean is genuinely quiet at the moment, the overall political direction of the current administration is directed to settle it,” he said.

    Piracy, cargo theft and crew kidnap in the Gulf of Guinea are reducing in the east of Malacca, he said.

    The number of people affected ran into millions and are adding significantly to the numbers of migrants entering Europe by boat from Libya – itself in the throes of a chaotic and violent aftermath of the end of the Gadhafi regime.

    He said: “More people have been trafficked this year alone through Libya into mainly Italy and Malta. “With the cost of a passage estimated at up to $1000 per person this implies a flow of funds into to criminal networks. Experience in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere has indicated a close connection between people trafficking, piracy and the trafficking of guns and drugs and that is why the Federal Government through NIMASA is working assiduously to make the high sea safe.’

    The senior official however, explained that the super-connectedness of today’s world sometimes places limits on the extent to which the international community can always act robustly to preserve law and order on the high seas because the policy priority will always be stability and the winning of hearts and minds on land. Sending in the gunboats can sometimes antagonise fractured local communities and throw the internationally recognised political strategy off course.

    He added: “The use of armed guards on ocean going vessels in exceptional circumstances is likely to ebb and flow but will not disappear.

    “Nigerian Port Authorities (‘NPA), the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA have a critical role to play in helping responsible ship owners protect their crews and in support of wider initiatives to curtail movement of dangerous goods, illegal gun trafficking – in particular by ensuring that they have transparent, predictable and commercially practical procedures in place to facilitate the embarkation and disembarkation of lawful goods and firearms handled by properly certified private security teams.

    “These procedures, the official said, need to be dovetailed with the existing obligations and procedures as required by the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS).’’

    Representatives of leading private maritime security firms at the event said the government the government, through its agencies is working round the clock to guarantee  safety on the high seas

  • NIMASA: Africa must be on shipowners’ list

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is unhappy that Africa  is not on the world’s shipowners’ list.

    To  NIMASA,it is not good that  no carrier from the continent is on the list.

    As a way out, the agency plans to develop a ship tonnage growth strategy and promote best practices to attract vessels in the nation’s ship registry.

    In a message to the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) Conference at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, NIMASA Director-General Dr Dakuku Peterside said African governments and maritime administrators must develop ship tonnage strategy and practices to attract more vessels in African Ship Registry (ASR) to boost their economies.

    NIMASA, he said, was considering an approach that would address low tonnage and Nigeria’s inability to compete in global maritime trade.

    NIMASA’s Director for Special Duties Hajia Lami Tumaka, led Nigeria’s delegation to the confrence.

    In AAMA Chairman’s report, covering  2017 and 2018, exclusively obtained by The Nation, the Executive Council resolved that Maritime Administrations (MARADS) should:

    • consider training and capacity building in Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) of fisheries activities;
    • collaborate with relevant institutions to build capacity in Monitoring, Control and Surveillance of fisheries management and fishing activities in African waters;
    • enhance Africa’s Maritime surveillance for the benefit of ship management safety and security;
    • strengthen collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAQ) on enforcement of Port State Control guidelines on shipping activities; and
    • development of Near Coastal Trading Certification and Competency Code to foster Economic cooperation between Maritime Administrations.

    The Executive Council also considered the concept note presented by the Abuja MOU, which stated the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-Keeping for Seafarers (STCW) I978, set minimum standards for training, certification and watch-keeping for seafarers that member states are obliged to meet, or exceed.

    It also considered the work undertaken by the secretariat in developing Near Coastal Trading Certification and Competency Code to be adopted to foster economic cooperation among maritime administrations.

    The General Assembly is expected  to consider other areas of interest designed to address  enhancement of maritime pollution prevention and control to ensure protection of marine environment.

    The Executive Council noted with concern the role of MARADS in enhancing maritime pollution prevention and control, to ensure protection of  maritime infrastructure. It urged maritime administrations to ratify and domesticate relevant IMO instruments on marine pollution, prevention and control which, if fully implemented, would help achieve the drive towards a sustainable use of the African ocean and seas.

  • Council seeks more dry docks

    The Federal Government has been advised to establish more dry docks to create jobs and boost shipping business, especially now that the sea ports are attracting more vessels.

    Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (PCC) Chairman Kunle Folarin said dry docks were necessary to improve ship maintenance and seaworthiness, considering the number of vessels received at the sea ports.

    Their establishment, he said, would attract more cargoes to the ports and unprove trade within the sub-region. Folarin said floating docks and the dry docks should be equipped with materials for seaworthiness of vessels.

    “A ship cannot sail without being seaworthy and a ship is supposed to be dry-docked within a time-frame. Then you need dry docks to perform such compliance requirements. We probably have one (dry dock), and we are talking of Nigerian ports attracting more vessels as the year is going to an end,” he said.

    Folarin said ship owners could use dry docks for compliance with sea-worthiness certification; repairs, and for trans-shipment of cargo to other areas within West and Central African regions. He suggested that the marine environment should be well-utilised through infrastructure development.

    “In the context of Nigeria, we know that we have massive maritime potential. Nigeria has all the potential to become a key player. If we have fully utilised the opportunities provided by our maritime domain, we would have seen ship-building yards in Nigeria.

    “Certainly, our ports would have been the preferred port and hub for trans-shipment. We would have established competitive port costs that would attract more traffic to the ports’’. He suggested that a manpower-building programme should be set  up by the government and its agencies.

    He said more gains would come from developing skills such as nautical science, survey, foundry, ship-building and other manpower development programmes.

    An importer, Mr Felix Solomon, said dry docks were essential since the rate of polluting territorial waters, illegal fishing and dumping of hazardous wastes has reduced.

    He said the country needs to work with foreign partners to develop the dry docking industry.

    Solomon, however, said putting an end to the dumping of toxic waste in maritime domain and curtailment of crimes on the coastline require commitment by the Federal Government through the the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).