By; RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos
No fewer than 489 vessels were surveyed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in 2021, in accordance with the safety requirements of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007, the Director General of the Agency Dr. Bashir Jamoh has disclosed.
Jamoh, who made the disclosure at a media briefing weekend in Lagos, while reeling out the achievements of the Agency in 2021, hinted that the figure is 43.6 percent higher than the total number of condition survey carried out in 2020 which was 276 vessels.
According to him, the achievement is an indication of the maritime administration’s seriousness in terms of flag state survey, noting that for the port state control functions of NIMASA, a total of 429 foreign vessels were boarded to ensure that each vessel maintained safety, pollution standards while at our ports and waters.
The NIMASA Boss stated that the total number of condition survey for flag registration conducted in 2020 was 276 , while in 2021 it was 489.” For the port state implementation, the 2021 figure as recorded was 675 vessels which is 24.2 % higher than the number of inspections carried out in 2020 of 510 vessels”, he added.
Jamoh, who also spoke on the moribund modular floating dockyard of the agency disclosed that plans are afoot for the privatisation of the dockyard, but will centre on Public Private Partnership (PPP).
He reiterated the apex maritime regulatory agency’s commitment in ensuring the revamping of the controversial floating dockyard.
He assured stakeholders of the maritime industry that the floating dock will be operational before the end of first quarter of 2022.
“However, we don’t want to operate it by government or NIMASA alone but for Public Private Partnership. As usual,the issue of privatisation of any government property is not a product but a process.
Jamoh, though declined to name the foreign players of the privatisation process, but however said that the Nigerian Ports Authority is a co- partner in the process, with provision of its Continental Shipyard.
” We have been undergoing this process, and the DG ICRC was here for the first certificate ,telling us that privatisation of the floating dock is profitable,doable and they gave us the go ahead to do that.
“We have also gone ahead with the Managing partner and co-pattern, which is the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, with the provision of Continental Shipyard”, he emphasised.
Jamoh stressed that “We expect in no distance future maximum by February 2022, privatisation must be approved by the Federal Executive Council because it’s a national assets.
He said that the cost implications cannot be handled by the federal government alone pointing out that privatisation would future aid the floating dock operations, saying the foreign counterparts will be take up the class conditions before the usage deployment.
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