DG,  NIMASA, Patrick Apobolokemi


The plan  by the  Nigerian Maritime Administration  and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to create  250,000 vacancies in 2015 in the shipping industry has triggered hope for many Nigerian seamen who have over the years remained without  employment,  Francis Ugwoke reports

The projection of the Nigerian Maritime Administration  and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is that 250,000 jobs will be created for seafarers  in the nation’s shipping industry by the year 2015.  Such jobs are expected to come from improved indigenous capacity in shipping trade currently  dominated by foreign multi-national agencies.  Incidentally, the current situation in the shipping industry  is that many seafarers  are jobless.  Those who are lucky to have jobs complain bitterly of poor remunerations apparently because indigenous operators are themselves handicapped as they suffer patronage notwithstanding the provision of the Cabotage Shipping Law that  is expected to  reserve coastal shipping for local operators.

A Tale of Woes for Seafarers
It has been a tale of woes for Nigerian seafarers since the collapse  of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), the only national carrier in the shipping industry. NNSL was liquidated in 1995 as the company could no longer pay its bills.  Creditors had pounced  on the ships belonging to NNSL, getting court orders to arrest  the national carriers’ vessels on account of debts. Government had  in response liquidated  the company.  This was a big blow to hundreds of seafarers  who were working in over 20 ships owned by the company. Owing to the importance of  having a national carrier, government had as a remedy floated  the Nigerian Unity Line (NUL) that had only one ship, MV Abuja.

The  ship was  inherited from NNSL under cover.  But NUL went the way of NNSL as  the company could not again pay its bills. The only vessel,  MV Abuja, which was brand new, could not be maintained.  Shipyards were owed thousands of dollars over seaworthy maintenance costs. This again forced the management of NIMASA to recommend the liquidation of the company after years of shouldering the burden of the company in terms of  staff salaries and maintenance of the vessel. This situation  no doubt  affected Nigerian seafarers in many ways. Those who were working lost their jobs, and it took the grace of God to get stipends  as  benefits.  Some still claim they did not get all that was due to them.

The other problem is that indigenous shipping companies  could hardly employ  enough  seafarers as some of them  were out of date in terms of  new developments in training of seafarers. Many of them need to get new training to be in line with  international  developments. Seasoned seafarers are expected to  undergo  the  International Maritime Organsation Mandatory  practical training. It is a two year programme  under the Standards of Watchkeep Training Convention. With this, the seamen can work on board any  vessel in the world.  
Many of the  local companies  did not have  vessels of their own, and had to rely on charter of foreign vessels. This affected the seafarers. In 2003, when Cabotage  Law was  introduced  which made  it mandatory for all ships operating in coastal waters to be crewed 100 percent by Nigerian seafarers, many had thought that  this will address the unemployment situation of seafarers, but  nothing changed.

Many  local shipping companies were not getting contracts from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and oil majors  on allegation that they did not have reliable seaworthy vessels  to carry wet cargoes.  Members of the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN)  saw this allegation as  untrue and  deliberate to deny Nigerians the right to  maximally benefit from Cabotage law. The shipowners  made efforts to acquire new vessels.  Some  changed from single hull to double hull vessels, but have had difficulty benefiting from  wet cargo contracts directly from NNPC and oil majors.  This again impacted negatively on the fortunes of seafarers, as  the calculation is that companies can only engage workers when there are  more contracts to execute.      Foreign vessels operating in Nigerian waters usually enjoy  waivers to engage foreigners.

Protest  by Seafarers
Apparently worried  about  what appears a  bleak future,  members of the    Seamen  branch of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) used the occasion of the World Maritime Day to protest  over their poor conditions.  The workers had accused the management of NIMASA of not doing enough to address their welfare issues. They  accused  NIMASA  of    maltreatment  and deprivation. NIMASA as the apex maritime regulatory agency  under its new Act  has the statutory  responsibility      to organise seafarers, provide  their training and organise the seafarers’ pooling system to enable them  secure jobs.  But on the occasion of World  Maritime Day, the seafarers  instead  accused NIMASA  of  introducing programmes that  have ended up making seamen lose their jobs.

The union also accused    NIMASA of  turning  itself  into a manning agent, and has been directly involved  in providing crew to vessels,  a development the seafarers said  has rendered  them redundant. The seamen lamented that  the Seafarers Pool  which is where  the crew should be  recruited, has been abandoned, alleging that  the apex maritime agency  has been    patronising private  pools  which have links with  its staff.

According to the Union, this has made many of them  remain without jobs. Specifically,  the  Deputy President- General of the Union, Henry Odey and    the Warri District Chairman of the union, Seamen branch, Goodlife. Okoro  maintained    that  NIMASA has no statutory right to crew vessels. They said that all the agency is expected to do is    to    send such requests to the seafarers’ pools through the Maritime Workers’ Union.

Seafarers’ Board
To improve the welfare of seafarers, the National Seafarers’ Welfare Board of Nigeria  was established  about eight years ago. The board, a non-profit making and voluntary agency  is  charged with the role  of improving on  the welfare of  seafarers in Nigeria. But the problem of the agency has been funding. The establishment of the Board  was in  fulfillment of    the provisions of the  International Labour Organisation Seafarers Welfare Convention  163 of 1987 and Seafarers’ Welfare Recommendation  173 of 1987.  as well as the Consolidated Maritime Labour Convention 2006 Regulation. Chairman of the board,  Mr Kunle Folarin,  recently said that the  board  will do everything to improve the welfare of the seafarers. Noting the  dangers that seafarers are exposed to, he said that  the Board  will adequately  take  care of  seafarers physically and economically. He said that  the board in order to improve the welfare of  seafarers  had conducted  shipvisits on board international vessels and shipyards for training purposes.

A deputy director, Maritime Capacity building, NIMASA,  Ibrahim Jubril,  apparently  realising the needs of the  seafarers recently  said the task of  addressing the seafarers development should not be left to government alone. According to him, government alone cannot  provide the funds needed to  improve the  working conditions of seafarers in the country. He identified NIMASA and  few other agencies of having been the only ones  shouldering the responsibility of  funding seafarers board. He said that with this, it is difficult to arrive at the expected results, adding that  the private sector was needed to assist in  the funding of seafarers welfare.

Hope for  Seafarers
In what will finally address the welfare issue of  seafarers,  the management of NIMASA  has said that it has plans to  address  most of the needs of the  seamen.  These include  creation of 250,000 jobs by 2015 and training programme  for seafarers to enable them prepare for such jobs. Although details of how the  jobs will be created are not very clear, expectations are that    strengthening  the cabotage shipping law with an amendment, in addition  to  giving  out loans to indigenous shipping companies to acquire vessels will  indeed  grow indigenous capacity  for more jobs.  It is  also expected that  once there is the political will to get NNPC and oil majors  to give wet cargo affreightment contract to  indigenous operators  will  in turn trigger off the multiplier effect of  more jobs for seafarers.

The  Director-General of NIMASA, Patrick Apobolokemi,  who was silent on  this, however, disclosed during the  Seafarers’ Day  in Warri  that the agency plans  to “develop and empower Nigerian seamen such as the National Seafarers Development Program (NSDDP)” for a better  future. The DG also said that  NIMASA is planning to introduce  an electronic pooling project in order to  get  “Nigerian seafarers registered, verified, placed onboard and developed anywhere in the world in line with global best practices”.  Apobolokemi said that  the process has been completed and will soon be made available to all seamen.

The agency has in recent time  been involved in organising series of training programmes  locally and overseas for seafarers to  qualify them for jobs on board  not just indigenous  vessels but also  international vessels.

The DG disclosed recently that  the agency  spent N1.65bn  in training seafarers abroad. Such trainings, according to the DG, will expose the  Nigerian seamen to  latest skills required to gain employment on board  vessels anywhere in the world.