The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NIMASA

  • ‘N900b lost on Nigerian waters yearly’

    About N900billion is lost yearly to sea piracy, investigation have revealed.

    Piracy and other illegal activities on the waters are major sources of revenue leakage in the country.

    Sources at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said the country loses 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily to oil thieves, amounting to about N2.5 billion daily, and over N900 billion yearly.

    Piracy on the nation’s coast and in the Gulf of Guinea, the source said, is on the rise. “There have been at least five attacks on our waters this month,” he said.

    Last year, the source said there were reports that powerful ship owners in Europe and America might push for more discriminatory shipping tariffs for cargo coming to Nigeria.

    This followed the verdict of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which placed the country second on world’s piracy hotspots list after war-torn Somalia.

    The IMB, he said, also believes there are more incidences of piracy in the country’s waters than were reported.

    Early last year, the source said, there were reports of a ship captain and his chief engineer who were killed by armed robbers off the coast of Lagos.

    About three weeks later, a Russian ship was reportedly attacked in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital and its captain kidnapped.

    Earlier, MT Abu Dhabi Star, a ship containing 50,000 metric tonnes of natural gas, was hijacked by pirates off the coast of the country for over eight hours before the Nigerian Navy rescued its Indian crew along with the product.

    “On March 22, 2012, there was an attack on a Nigerian flag chemical tanker 80 nautical miles south of Brass in which a speedboat carrying 10 armed pirates was deployed from a fishing essel. On August 4, 2012, pirates suspected to be Nigerians attacked a Dutch oil boat, killing two Nigerian naval guards and kidnapping four foreigners.

    “On August 31, 2012, a supertanker, MT Energy Centurion, was attacked by pirates offshore Lome, Togo and 3,000 metric tonnes of crude oi8l were stoken and siphoned into a vessel before the Nigerian Navy came to rescue the crew,” he said.

    In August last year, he said, Captain Romeo Itima, Managing Director of Global West Vessel Specialist Limited (GWVSL) lost his life while he and his team were in pursuit of suspected oil thieves in Escravos area of the Warri Pilotage District. It was reported that the GWVSL team was trailing the suspected oil thieves who opened fire on them.

    Besides, an indigenous tanker vessel, MT More Prosperity, belonging to the President of the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) was highjacked by pirates offshore Lagos recently.

    Speaking with The Nation, ISAN Prsident and Chief Executive Officer of Morlap Shipping Company Limited, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, said MT Prosperity was chattered to load 15000mt of diesel offshore Lagos for discharge in Lome, Togo before it was jijacked.

    Deputy Director, Public Affairs, NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, told The Nation that the agency arrested and detained a vessel, MT BEE, last year, with 17,000 tonnes of petroleum products onboard as at the time of detention.

     

  • 41 seafarers graduate

    41 seafarers graduate

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said its seafarers training programme is yielding results as many Nigerians have been trained abroad by the agency under the Nigerian Seafarers Development (NSD) programme.

    The Director-General of the agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, who spoke at a reception organised for th first batch 41 students sponsored by NSD in Lagos.

    He said the agency has set up a Joint Technical Committee on Indigenous Capacity Building Development with ISAN to work with local ship owners to encourage them to do business in the country.

    He said 21 vessels were waiting for repairs, adding that they would be inspected by ship surveyors before being taken to ship yards for repairs.

    He said the cost of repairs would be borne by the agency, noting that conditions for repayment would be discussed at the next meeting of the committee.

    The NIMASA helmsman said no single hull vessel would be repaired because they have been phased out by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

    Akpobolokemi said the agency would only handle double hull vessel.

    He listed the benefiting firms to include AG Butler Nigeria, Japaul Oil and Maritime Limited, Morlap, Shipping, Jevkom Oil and Gas, Niger Delta Shipping, Peacegate Oil and Gas, Rangk, Peace gate Oil and Gas, Niger Delta Shipping, Rangk and Lenimar Ocean Trawlers Limited.

    Others are Phenix Associates Limited, DLB Marine Sevices Limited Seabulk Offshore, West Africa Offshore, Miden systems Limited, Pramara Shipping, Kotram, Intergreted Services Limited and Intergreted services Limited.

    He stressed that NIMASA had awarded contract for the survey of the vessels to ensure that they are commercially viable before they are repaired.

    His words: “We want to have control of the shipyards where the vessels would be repaired and the agency has the right to determine where the vessels would be repaired.”

    The NIMASA boss also assured that there would be transparency when executing the project, adding that it only those who are qualified would benefit.

  • NIMASA chief indicts influential Nigerians, foreigners over piracy

    The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Patrick Akpobolokemi has said illegalities on the waterways are perpetrated by some highly placed Nigerians and foreigners.

    He alleged that they provide arms for hoodlums and sea pirates.

    The agency, he said, would intensify its fight against pirates and oil thieves this year to stem criminality on the teritorial waters.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, he said the country lost over N445 million between February 2010 and February 2011 to sea robbery.

    Investigations showed that ships on illegal trade litter the territorial waters in violation of the Cabotage Act 2003.

    Some of these ships engage in illegal transshipment, bunkering, illegal transfer from mother vessels and dumping of harmful substances and ballast water.

    It was learnt that NIMASA and the Navy are reviewing their memorandum of understanding (MoU) to step up their anti-piracy war this year.

    According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), 56 piracy attacks occurred on Nigeria’s territorial waters in 2010, 119 in 2011 and about 70 last year.

    Akpobolokemi said the decline in piracy attacks indicated that NIMASA’s and Navy’s aggressive anti-piracy campaigns were yielding fruits.

    To tackle the menace, Akpobolokemi said the Federal Government has adopted 12 regulatory frameworks to ensure that the territorial waters are safe in line with the International Maritime Organisation Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Convention and International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution at Sea (MARPOL).

    The regulation borders on sewage, garbage dumps, ships registration and dangerous/obnoxious wastes, among others, he said.

    Asked whether the additional responsibility would not be too much for the agency, knowing that it had difficulties in enforcing the NIMASA Act and the Cabotage Act, Akpobolokemi said the major problem before now was the absence of operational platforms (patrol boats) for effective policing, which the contract with Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited (GWVSNL) has resolved.

  • Four banks to manage N24b Cabotage Fund

    Four banks to manage N24b Cabotage Fund

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will start the disbursement of over N24 billion (about $160 million) from the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund (CVFF) to approved shipping operators early next year, The Nation has learnt.

    The Fund, which is aimed at promoting ship building under the Cabotage Act, is from the compulsory two to three per cent deduction on contracts by firms and organisations in the industry.

    The agency had screened qualified applicants, a source said.

    To avoid the mistakes of the past, sources said four banks—Diamond Bank, Sterling Bank, Fidelity Bank and Skye Bank — have been appointed to handle the disbursement to ensure that beneficiaries pay back the loan.

    It was learnt that selection of qualified applicants was still open to firms that were yet to apply.

    Besides, there is room for more banks to be invited to participate in the programme, the source said.

    The source, however, noted that some companies did not contribute the mandatory three per cent contract sum to the Fund.

    “Majority of those that are clamouring for the quick disbursement of the fund are those violating the law by not paying the appropriate amount they are expected to pay; yet, they think NIMASA will close its eyes and give the money to them, or be allowed to access the loan,” he said.

    The loan, the source added, would only be given to those that have contributed to it by paying the necessary fees as required by law.

  • NIMASA to create 5,000 jobs in seafaring

    NIMASA to create 5,000 jobs in seafaring

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) plans to create over 5,000 jobs under the National Seafarers Development Programme, its Director-General Patrick Akpobolokemi, has said.

    The prospective seafarers are to be trained abroad under the auspices of the programme.

    Last Sunday, NIMASA desptached 525 cadets to the Philippines for training in Marine Engineering, Nautical Science and Naval Architecture.

    Speaking at the send-off party for them, Akpobolokemi said they were being sent abroad to boost the development of the country, assuring them that the agency would give them the necessary financial backing during the training.

    The training, he said, would not only solve domestic seafarers’ need of the country, but ensure that it becomes an exporter of seafarers in future.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, represented by the Transport Minister, Senator Idris Umar, said the training was in line with the government’s policy to create employment for the youth.

    He said the government was aware of the untapped resources in the maritime sector, adding that the government would step up the tempo to ensure that they are tapped to make the country compete favourably and earn foreign exchange like other maritime nations.

    Justifying the training, Umar, who said another 1,000 would leave in January 2013, noted the gap in the nation’s seafaring, adding that many seafarers in the industry are old and on the way out of public service.

    He charged the beneficiaries to see themselves as good ambassadors of the nation, face their studies with seriousness and stay away from any act that can mar the image of the country.

    Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty, Mr Kingsley Kuku, urged the cadets to face their studies, saying that they should count themselves lucky to be beneficiaries of the programme.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Maritime and Chairman of the occasion, Mr Leke Oyewole, said many of the beneficiaries did not know the objective of the training, adding that it and other initiatives of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan were designed to address manpower shortage in the sub-sector.

    He advised them to be of good behaviour and make the nation proud.

  • Use of old vessels detrimental to Cabotage Act

    Why are Nigerians not benefiting from the Cabotage Act? It is because of the acqusition of single haul vessels by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), says Executive Chairman, Blessed Agencies and Shipping, Mr Raymond Oluwa.

    He said the Federal Government should be blamed for the influx of old vessels on the territorial waters.

    “If you allow ship owners to bring old vessels into the country and you register them as cabotage vessels, then you must be ready to give them jobs; forget about IMO laws and the other laws because you have collected money from the owners for registration,” he said.

    Oluwa called on the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to ensure that indigenous ship owners are given jobs by the oil firms since they were registered by NIMASA under the Act.

    A maritime lawyer, Mr Festus Olayinka, said the payment of fees while applying for waiver under the Act is responsible for the circumvention of the law.

    He alleged that waivers are granted “before approval because those who apply for waivers are made to pay while their applications are still being processed.”

    He added: “The Act stipulates 100 per cent for rating; 60 per cent of officers or Nigerians and 40 per cent for foreigners. But the foreigners come in with a waiver clause that the country does not have qualified hands to man the industry.

    “Also, if you want a waiver to be granted, you apply to NIMASA and your file would be taken to Abuja for ministerial approval. Before the approval comes from Abuja, you must have paid money to NIMASA.

    “After collecting my money, it is as good as saying that you have granted me the waiver because it would be difficult for you to return my money because by the time the file leaves for Abuja, the job would have been done.”

    He said the influx of old vessels in the territorial waters was due to illegal bunkering.

  • NIMASA to remit N3b unpaid arrears

    NIMASA to remit N3b unpaid arrears

    The House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance has asked the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to pay N3.4billion to the Federal Government as arrears of unpaid independent revenue.

    Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to pay up N30billion as balance of its operating surplus for 2012.

    The apex bank has paid N50billion to the coffers of government this year, as part of its N80billion as its independent revenue,

    The CBN Governor, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Service, Suleiman Barau, got the commendation of the Committee when it was disclosed that the apex bank’s remittance alone constituted over 80 per cent of remittances by revenue-generating agencies of government for this year.

    NIMASA pleaded with the Committee to pay whatever was regarded as its arrears of independent revenue despite remitting N44.9billion

    However, from records of Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) and the Accountant-General, the agency failed to remit any money in 2010, although it remitted N450million in 2011.

    The Committee mandated the agency to pay N3billion from the N8billion it has generated this year into the coffers of Federal Government.

    The summary of the operating surplus as presented by Otunla showed that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria LNG Limited, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), National Film and Censors Board, West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Federal Housing Authority (FHA), NESREA and National Hospital reflecting zero remittance from 2009 to date.

    He said: “When we were pressed to get money in the third quarter to source money for the fourth quarter, from about N145billion operating surplus we got, CBN paid N114billion as operating surplus for 2011 representing about 70 per cent”.

    Otunla also commended the CBN and Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) have complied in the payment of operating surplus into the Consolidated account as and when due”.

    The OAGF document showed that NPA paid N15b in 2012, N6.802b paid by NCC, N5.031b by NDIC while total sum of N185m was paid by NAFDAC.

    Dividends paid by Federal Government owned companies between January 2009 to October 2012 indicated that Bank of Industry generated N3,978,288.78; Transcorp Hilton generated N5.5 billion while Capital Hotels generated N844,578.07.

    NCC paid N26,852,469,732.31 to the government between January and October 2012 generated from spectrum fees ; BPE generated N20,110,764,577.48 from privatisation proceeds and additional sum of N21,741,500 from rent on a property in Lagos within the period under review.

  • NIMASA detains ship, crew over cooked diesel

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has arrested a service cargo vessel, the MV Arti, laden with over 80,000 litres of automotive gas oil (AGO or diesel) suspected to have been cooked, rather than refined.

    The Commander, Maritime Guard Command, Navy Capt. Promise Dappa, who stated this in Lagos yesterday, said the issue of oil theft would soon become a thing of the past.

    He said the ship was arrested at the Bakare Jetty, Kirikiri water front in Apapa, with two crew members, as they supervised the discharge of the diesel into trucks, perhaps, for onward movement to petrol stations.

    “Other crew members and operators of the receiving trucks had disappeared from the loading point on sighting officers of the Maritime Guard command”, the Navy Captain indicated.

  • NIMASA to present bill on sea piracy

    TO check sea piracy, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will soon send a draft bill on sea criminalities to the National Assembly.

    NIMASA’s Director-General Patrick Akpobolokemi said the authority needs a strong legal framework for prosecuting suspected pirates.

    “The menace of piracy and armed robbery in our waters is a source of concern, but we are gradually containing the scourge, and our waters have become relatively safer, and we need to do more to ensure safe navigation at all times.

    He said NIMASA was collaborating with the Nigerian Navy and that the public-private partnership of the agency with Global West Vessel Specialists Limited, for the supply of vessels would ensure NIMASA’s presence in the waters and deter sea criminals.

    He said ships and offshore platforms pollution had been a major problem.

    “To give effect to a number of marine environment, legislators domesticated by the National Assembly, 11 regulations were gazetted and form part of our body of laws,” the NIMASA boss said.

    He said the agency was determined to ensure the enforcement of these laws, adding that soon disputes on these statutes would come before the courts.

    “To ensure compliance with the various statutes, which regulate our operations, NIMASA is also taking a stricter position on the enforcement of the Cabotage Law and violations of the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act.

    “ The agency is exploring ways of ensuring the speedy prosecution of breaches, given the impediment which requires us to obtain a fiat from the Attorney-General’s office to prosecute such cases. This issue is made more delicate by the time sensitive nature of shipping and the need, therefore, to strike a balance between commercial imperatives and our responsibility as a regulatory agency,” Akpobolokemi said.

  • Appeal Court orders NIMASA to pay N6.8b judgment debt

    Appeal Court orders NIMASA to pay N6.8b judgment debt

    The Appeal Court, has ordered the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) to pay a judgment debt of N6.8 billion into an interest yielding account in the name of its Registrar, pending the determination of its appeal against the judgment.

    The court gave the order yesterday in Lagos while ruling on NIMASA’s application challenging an earlier order, by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, directing the payment of the judgment debt into an interest yielding account pending appeal.

    The three-man justices’ panel of the appellate court led by Justice Adamu Jauro, held unanimously that the application failed and ordered NIMASA to pay the judgment debt owed to a shipping firm, to Hensmor Nigeria Limited, into an account with First Bank. The court fixed February 11 next year for hearing of the substantive appeal.

    Before the ruling, lawyer to NIMASA,Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), told the court that his client refused the payment of the judgment debt as ordered by the trial court due to its pending appeal and in which one of its bankers, First City Monument Bank Plc (FCMB) was joined.

    The debt arose from a judgment given late last year by Justice Abang in a suit by Hensmor, who claimed that NIMASA arrested its ship, MT Aigbomien, for five years from March 14, 2006, during which its content, a consignment of kerosene was stolen and the ship went bad.

    In the suit,Hensmor claimed that while the ship was under NIMASA”s arrest, its 63 metric tons of dual purpose kerosene (DPK) content was stolen, it lost a daily income estimated at $7,000 and the vessel valued at $25million rendered unserviceable.

    NIMASA appealed the judgment and filed an application for stay of execution pending appeal, which was granted by the trial court on condition that NIMASA pays the judgment debt into an account opened in the name of the lower court’s Deputy Registrar.

    Realising that NIMASA was unwilling to obey the judgment, Hensmor initiated a garnishee proceedings, resulting in an order nisi made by the court on May 15 this year.