“NIMASA Ultimatum is Dead   on Arrival”

Nigerian ship owners have stated that the recent marine notice issued by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to owners of abandoned vessels in Nigeria’s territorial waters to remove them within 28 days or face sanctions is dead on arrival.

According to the ship owners the ultimatum cannot work as key issues at stake have not been addressed.

They noted that the approach taken by NIMASA was not only wrong but also faulty. The core function is to promote indigenous shipping. NIMASA ought to have first undertaken an inventory of the ships, their location and owners and meet with them to determine where the vessels can be moved to.

Speaking in Lagos on the heels of his recent inauguration for a second term of office, the President, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Mr. Greg Ogbeifun noted that the agency should explore areas of assistance to the vessel owners as they might not be financially capable to undertake the task of evacuating them. He insisted that the removal of the vessels cannot be done without the assistance of the agency just as he raised the issue of non-availability of reliable statistics on vessels in the nation’s maritime domain.

In order to get results, he enjoined the nation’s maritime regulatory authority to adopt a different approach.

Ogbefun said, “My personal view is that may be NIMASA would have taken a different approach. First of all, I do not have statistics of the vessels. I do not know their conditions. Some of the vessels are probably aground. Some of the owners have no power to move them. So, the cost of moving them could be quite elaborate and expensive and I do not know if any of the owners is in any financial position to shoulder the responsibility of moving them within the short time. Where will they move the vessels to? Wherever they are going to move the vessels to, they will have to incur costs. In my opinion, the NIMASA ultimatum is dead on arrival. It cannot work.”

The marine engineer maintained that NIMASA had to agree with the owners on where to move the vessels as it would amount to fruitless effort if the vessels were moved from one point and kept in another place.

“NIMASA should first of all go out there and get the details or statistics of all the vessels and then identify the owners of these vessels and then call a meeting of all the owners and tell them that they need to move the vessels out of there. NIMASA should first of all confirm the vessel owners and after that, ask them whether they have any challenge moving the vessels from there and they will tell you their challenges”, he said.