Nimasa

Lagos, Feb. 14, 2024:  The Nigerian Maritime and Safety Administration (NIMASA) has begun preparations to deploy the modular floating dock at Apapa Continental Shipyard.

Its Director-General, Dr Bashir Jamoh, Director- General, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

Jamoh said that the agency had moved the floating dock to a jetty at the Standard Flour Mills in Apapa ahead of its scheduled installation at its operational base at the Continental Shipyard, Apapa.

The floating docks are used where the water variation is usually more than 24 feet during the boating season or in depths that are over eight feet.

The heavy 50-ton cylindrical spuds, which are for anchoring the dock, are being prepared for installation.

“We are moving slowly but steadily to our destination.

“Today, we are lifting out the cylindrical studs to be prepared for piling at the Continental Shipyard where the Floating Dock is scheduled to commence operations.

“These spuds have to be firmly installed before we can tow the floating dock there.

“We assure stakeholders that very soon, Nigeria will save foreign earnings with the commencement of operations of our dock,” said NIMASA boss.

The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) leased designated areas at the Continental Shipyard for the operations of the modular floating dock in 2023.

The areas include; the Dolphin Jetty, waterfront of the jetty adjourning the slipway, an administrative block, a construction, welding and mechanical workshop and a civil maintenance workshop, among others.

The project will be run on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

Lagos, Feb.  10, 2024: The United States Coast Guard(USCG) has offered the country a three-year plan to work with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for removal of the Condition of Entry (CoE) placed on American-bound vessels from Nigeria.

Mr Edward Osagie, Assistant Director, Public Relations,  NIMASA, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

Osagie said that Cdr. Juliet Hudson, at the USCG Headquarters in Washington DC, disclosed this during a peer review visit by NIMASA delegates.

Hudson said a bi-annual assessment of compliance level with ISPS implementation at Nigerian ports working with NIMASA.

“We will work with NIMASA to review the compliance level of ports in Nigeria with the provisions of the International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) Code

“This will be done twice a year to enable us update the Port Advisory Security Portal in the White House, after which a decision will be taken to completely lift the Condition of Entry.

“We commend NIMASA for ISPS implementation,” Hudson said.

Meanwhile,  Director General, NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh,  on Friday received in audience, USCG Advisor, Lt. Benjamin Montz, who led a delegation to NIMASA.

Jamoh said that the agency would continue to prioritise safety and security on the Nigerian waterways to realise the mandate of the blue economy.

He acknowledged the support from the American government in seeing to the implementation of ISPC in Nigeria, suggesting that such support should be extended to other countries in the Gulf of Guinea(GoG).

Jamoh said that Nigeria plays a vital role in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), hence the need for the USCG to extend its support to countries in the region.

He noted that would help to consolidate the gains of the Deep Blue Project in the region and boost the existing ties in the region.

 “Nigeria is a major stakeholder in the Gulf of Guinea; you will agree with me that most of the activities in the region revolves around Nigeria.

 “We acknowledge the support you have been giving us; we request that you extend it to other countries in the GoG, as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and all credit goes to the United States Government.

“The  NIMASA  management also call on USCG to assist in the area of training the agency’s personnel, because a gap analysis will be done, and then synchronise with the USCG in order to give the right training to the right personnel,” Jamoh said.

Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the delegation from the USCG, Lt. Benjamin Montz, said that they were in Nigeria as part of their plans to support the agency in the area of training.

Monts said that the delegation came purposely to collaborate with NIMASA, to improve safety and security in the country’s maritime sector, with particular reference to port operations in Nigeria.

According to him,  NIMASA is the designated authority responsible for the implementation of the ISPS facility code in Nigeria.

“Over the years, the agency has continued to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to achieve its mandate with the United States Coast Guard.

“It provides the required support and assistance toward the realisation of safer and more secured waterways in Nigeria, and by extension the Gulf of Guinea,” Montz said.

Lagos, Sept. 21, 2023: The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has resolved to reopen its Lokoja office to harness the Blue Economy through research and development.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, in a statement in Lagos on Thursday, noted that investment in research would play a major role in ensuring the harnessing of Nigeria’s maritime potentials.

He made this known when he played host to the Executive Secretary of the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (KADSEMA), Malam Usman Mazadu, at the Head Office of the agency in Lagos,

According to Jamoh, the key cardinal principle of opening the NIMASA Lokoja office is to improve on research and development.

“Our goal is to establish the nexus in maximising the use of available resources in the nation’s inland waterways and the deep blue waters within 28 states.

“The deep blue waters is spanning over 4000 kilometers of inland waters and over 200 nautical miles of ocean resources; should be maximised with the coming of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

“Now, the blue economy has come to stay and very soon you will see the impact of what we have; in terms of the gains and benefits to grow our Gross Domestic Product, while improving the well-being of our own Economy,” he said.

Earlier in his remarks, Mazadu of KADSEMA lauded the agency for the feat achieved so far, which cuts across the entire Nigeria.

While seeking for cooperation with the agency in possible areas, he expressed the readiness of KADSEMA to support the agency in areas that may be deemed possible.

Lagos, Aug. 10, 2023: The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has handed over the leased site at the Continental Shipyard Ltd (CSL) of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to the technical partners, Melsmore.

Dr Bashir Jamoh, the Director-General, NIMASA, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Jamoh said the technical partners would liaise with the management of the NPA in finalising the site management.

This, he said, include risk assessment in preparation to move the Modular floating Dock to the Continental Shipyard for the commencement of full operations.

He said NIMASA and the technical partners agreed to invite manufacturers of the Floating Dock, Damen Shipyard, to join in recommissioning the Dockyard, while site preparations were ongoing.

Jamoh said this was to ensure the floating dock was deployed in the shortest possible time.

While addressing officials of Melsmore, Jamoh emphasised the need for them to review the action plan in the light of realities on ground with detailed deliverables, and key performance indicators with clearly stated timelines.

“Nigerians eagerly await the deployment of the modular floating dock.

“This is a national asset, which has potential to boost maritime trade, create jobs, develop skills, by providing training avenues to various maritime training institutions in Nigeria, while also attracting foreign investment and preventing capital flight, thereby generating revenue.

“We hope to have students from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and the Maritime University Okerenkoko amongst other maritime institutions come for practical time,” he said.

Responding, the Managing Director, Melsmore, Mr Danny Fuchs, thanked the management of the agency for the opportunity to work on such important project.

Fuchs said the company was prepared to handle the movement of the floating dock from the naval dockyard to the Continental Shipyard Ltd.

It may be recalled that the NPA recently leased designated areas at the Continental Shipyard for the operations of the modular floating dock.

The areas include; the dolphin jetty, waterfront of the jetty adjourning the slipway, an administrative block, a construction, welding and mechanical workshop and a civil maintenance workshop, among others.

The project will be run on a Public Private Partnership arrangement.

Lagos, June 20, 2023: Dr Ade Dosunmu, former Director-General (DG), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Tuesday said that the agency was not a revenue generating establishment.

Dosunmu, in a statement in Lagos was reacting to the call by the Presidential Policy Advisory Group to merge the agency with the Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service.

According to Dosunmu, this is a very serious misconception and dangerous for the future of shipping/ maritime industry in Nigeria.

“My attention has been drawn to speculation purported to have emanated from the Presidential Policy Advisory Group erroneously classifying NIMASA as a revenue generating Agency, thereby proposing a merger of NIMASA, Customs and FIRS.

“NIMASA was created in 2007 following the merger of National Maritime Authority (NMA) and Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMALIC), deriving its powers from the Merchant Shipping Act, 2007, NIMASA Act, 2007 and Coastal and Inland shipping (cabotage) Act, 2003.

“The Agency is a Maritime Safety Administration responsible for regulating shipping activities in Nigeria, with a view to achieving safer shipping and cleaner oceans as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) through its various Conventions and Protocols.

“The enabling acts give NIMASA statutory powers as specified by International Conventions and protocols for the enthronement of global best practices in ensuring safety of Navigation and prevention / control of marine pollution in the shipping industry as regulated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), in which Nigeria is a contracting member state,” he said.

Dosunmu said that the IMO had 167 Maritime Nations as members including Nigeria due to our vast maritime coastline and issue conventions and protocols, such Conventions as the Marine Pollution Prevention (MARPOL), and others.

He added that all these convention had been domesticated in Nigeria and NIMASA was the focal agency for implementation of the conventions through the discharge of its technical mandate which could not be performed by any other agency in Nigeria.

“NIMASA, being the safety administration of Nigeria, has counterparts in 167 maritime nations responsible for ensuring safer shipping and cleaner oceans through the instrumentality of the technical mandate it performs viz Port states inspection, Flag states inspection, Search and Rescue.

“Others are maritime capacity building, maritime security by ensuring our waters are safe from Piracy and Sea robbers, prevention/control of marine pollution, administers the training and Certification of Seafarers(STCW ’95), others.

“The same technical functions are performed by Maritime Safety Administration of UK, MCA, US Coast Guard, Safety Administration of Greece, Finland, Cyprus and all other member countries of IMO.

“It is, therefore, my humble position that emphasis of government should be on how to strengthen NIMASA to deliver more on its technical mandates and not merging it with Agencies that are not compatible with its philosophy and objectives,” he said.

According to him, there is  no doubt that in the course of discharging her technical mandate, NIMASA generates revenue and uses part of it to prosecute its technical regulatory functions.

He pointed out that the surplus at the end of the year was paid into the federation account in line with the target set by Ministry of Finance.

“However, the critical and urgent nature of some of these technical activities and the fact that they require instant response is part of the reason NIMASA is allowed to retain its funds and sometime not allowed to go through the bureaucracy of tendering.

“An example is a vessel that is sinking or an unexpected oil spill and pollution of the waters, or wreck that needs to be removed to ensure safety of channels for Navigation, flag state inspection, survey, regular patrol of our coastal waters and enforcement of necessary regulations.

“It is my strong view therefore, that the proposed merger will be counterproductive with huge negative implications for Nigeria in the global shipping community.

“Our waters may be considered no longer safe for international shipping and that can affect the volume of maritime trade and eventually lead to drop in revenue,” he said.

He said that another implication was that Nigerian waters could become a destination for rickety ships and thereby becoming a dumping ground for ship wrecks and derelicts.

“As at today, Nigeria is the leading maritime nation in West and Central Africa in terms of ship traffic and cargo. This feat was not achieved in a day.

“It is the cumulative effect of the reforms successive administrations introduced to strengthen the capacity of NIMASA as a maritime safety administration for the country.,” he said.

He urged the Federal Government under the able leadership of President Bola Tinubu, to consult major maritime stakeholders on issues affecting the maritime industry for proper guidance.

“The industry is the gateway to the economy of Nigeria and also very critical to the logistics aspect of the oil and gas industry since most of the crude oil production and exploration activities take place offshore Nigerian waters.

“ Trial and error will not work. Rather, NIMASA being the regulator, should be strengthened technically.

“The whole idea of merger should be set aside until wider consultation with the industry stakeholders is held.,” he said.

Abuja, June 7, 2023: As Nigeria mulls ways of diversifying its economy, Dr Bashir Jamoh, Director-General, Nigeria Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA), says the agency is working towards making blue economy Nigeria’s main source of revenue.

Jamoh made this known while speaking with journalists on the sideline of the three-day Nigeria-Netherlands Economic Consultation holding in Abuja from June 6 to June 8.

The Economic Consultation facilitated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeks to modify the already existing trade treaty between Nigeria and the Netherlands to boost economic cooperation.

Jamoh said that NIMASA is driving policies that would enable Nigeria explore from the over 2.5 trillion-dollar worth of ocean resources that the world has.

The NIMASA D-G said that collaborating with the Netherlands as a maritime nation would enable Nigeria achieve this goal for mutual benefits.

“We are seeing what we can explore from the over 2.5 trillion-dollar worth of ocean resources that we have.

“If oceans were to be an economy, it would be the seventh largest in the world just followed by Britain and next to Brazil.

“The Netherlands being a member of the council reelected in 2021, they have one of the largest ports in Europe and one of the largest in the world if you exclude Asia.

“The resources in our own oceans and seas are an economy that cannot be ignored.

“I have looked at the trade relationship between Nigeria and the Netherlands, the major components used to be petroleum, fish, and milk. So also, the exports between Nigeria and the Netherlands.

“The amount of export from Nigeria to Netherlands amount to about 2.63 billion as at 2021, while from the Netherlands to Nigeria upon 4.58 million. But in so doing, what is the contribution and the percentage of our oceans.

“Inspite of the fact that we have 853km of our own coastal line, we have about 10,000 kilometers of our inland water ways and all these, the resources in this have a lot of potentials of building both economies,” Jamoh said.

Jamoh said that now is the time for the Netherlands to expand its maritime ties with Nigeria following the recent approval by the National Assembly which would allow NIMASA disburse 700 million dollars for ship expansion in Nigeria.

He also called for increased capacity building between both countries to continue to develop the human resources on the sector.

This is also as Jamoh lamented Nigeria grappling with just one maritime university as compared to Netherlands, a country smaller than Nigeria having six maritime universities.