Nigeria can handle big foreign ships

The President of Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Mr Tajudeen Alao, said that, Nigeria seafarers lacked the necessary competence to work on big foreign ships.
The mariners’ president while speaking on the non-engagement of Nigerian trained seafarers by foreign vessels in Lagos State on Friday said that, the training Nigeria seafarers get from the nation’s maritime institutions was abridged.
Alao said that, in other maritime climes studies were segmented to suit the services required in the industry unlike here where the training was lopped together.
The objective of the Cabotage Act is primarily to reserve the commercial transportation of goods and services within Nigerian coastal and inland waters to vessels flying the Nigerian flag and owned by persons of Nigerian citizenship.
In pursuance of the success of Nigeria on maritime reforms, Nigeria made a bold attempt to change the face of maritime business within its coasts when it enacted the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003,.
Though designed to restrict foreign participation in Nigeria’s domestic coastal trade, nevertheless a lot of opportunities exist for foreign involvement.
The international vessel captain, who regretted that Nigerian seafarers were lagging behind others in ship crew provision said that Nigerian seafarers lacked the globally acceptable sea time to be able to fit in onboard complex ships.
“It is true that the cabotage law in Nigeria are being enforced by the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) reserved jobs for Nigerians onboard vessels within the nations coast.
“But it will be counterproductive for you as a vessel owner to engage those that you will spend time and money to train while there are many outside Nigeria that are already trained to the taste of the ship owners.
“Shipping is a capital intensive one therefore no investor will want to toy with his or her investment by employing those not globally certified to man vessels,” he said.
He called on the agencies in charge of training of the seafarers to renew the curriculum to be in tandem with universal practice in order for the cadets from the institutions to marketable.
Ghanaian seafarers dominated the nation’s maritime sector as crew men.