MATTHEW OTOIJAGHA
As part of the initiative to reposition the maritime sector for greater efficiency in line with International best practices, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency will release the empirical forecast that will determine the outlook of the industry in Nigeria by the first quarter of 2018.
Dr. Dakuku Peterside, disclosed this in Lagos, while stating that Nigeria forecast will deal with how developments on the international scene will affect the industry in Nigeria, which will also serve as a guide for investors and Stakeholders in the maritime sector.
He noted that the forecast will be released from a holistic perspective in order to know areas of advantage that will be of immense benefit to Stakeholders and industry players, both locally and internationally.
“On the positive side it will look at where the opportunities will be in the year 2018 and 2019; will greater investment in oil and gas translate to more demand for offshore support vessels? What are the industry perspectives? What government and her agencies should do to attract more investment in the industry amongst other salient issues,” Peterside said.
Furthermore, the NIMASA DG noted that the maritime industry forecast will also look at whether there will be improvement in maritime security, especially in the Niger Delta and what impact it will have on shipping. The expected impact of NIMASA’s partnership with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Cabotage implementation and international shipping will be another area the forecast will focus on.
The various projected impact of shift to digital shipping in Nigeria and its attendant effect on Nigerian shippers will also be analyzed in details. Dr. Peterside also noted that the maritime forecast to be released by NIMASA will look at the impact of global emphasis on Blue Economy and how Nigerians can benefit from it.
In the area of capacity building the DG pointed out that the effect on the industry will be considered as two new specialized Universities; Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko and the Admiralty University are expected to begin academic calendar next year, in addition to an already repositioned Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron.
Other areas of focus in the forecast will includes; the government decision on investment status in port and maritime infrastructure, the impact of emphasis on reduction on environmental footprint arising from shipping.
From the regulatory perspective it will also consider the impact on coming into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention, International Maritime Dangerous Goods mandatory compliance, among other conventions and regulations.
Maritime committee to redefine Nigeria’s ship registration processA committee newly formed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to review ship registration in Nigeria has promised to redefine the process with a view to ensuring conformity to global standards.hairman of the committee, Engr. Emmanuel Ilori, in an interview shortly after the committee’s inaugural meeting in Lagos, expressed readiness to ease the process of ship registration to make it more business friendly for ship owners.
He said, “Our aim is to ensure that Nigerian ship registry is business friendly both from the ship owner’s perspective and to establish financial confidence to enable people to register their ships in Nigeria registry.“We seek to ensure that the technical integrity of Nigeria’s ship registry is enhanced to enable the technical growth of the industry and to ensure that Nigeria registry has global acceptability.”
Ilori assured that the committee will regularly interact with relevant stakeholders to aggregate their inputs. He said the committee is expected to summit an interim report on its findings and recommendations to NIMASA in the next three months.
Director General of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside had last week set up the committee to examine the status of the Nigeria ship registry in line with international best standards and to ensure that ship registration processes are the same with other global ship registries.
Ships traffic at Nigeria ports on downward trend
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that ship traffic at the seaports is on a downward trend.
The Nigerian Ports Statistics 2012-2017 released by the NBS yesterday showed that ship traffic at the ports recorded a total of 4,175 ocean going vessels in 2017 as against 4,622 in 2016.
Also, the Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) followed the downward trend with 131,569,821 in 2017 as against 134,2,13,076 recorded in 2016. However, the traffic for service boats recorded an increase with a total of 12,243 in 2017, as against 9,418 service boats in 2016.
The statistics revealed a total of 71,903,266 cargo traffic recorded at all ports in 2017 as against 70,819,092 in 2016. According to the report, about 43,019,889 of the cargo traffic came as inwards, while 28,883,377 were outward.
A total of 181,404 vehicle traffics were recorded in 2017 at all the ports as against 105,189 and 131,994 vehicle traffic in 2016 and 2015. Classification of data, according to the seaports, revealed that the Calabar Port complex has really suffered from the shallow water level due to controversies surrounding the dredging of the channel.
NBS revealed that the cargo throughput in 2017 was highest at Onne Port with 25,836,246; followed by Apapa Port with 18,909,238; TinCan Island Port was third with 15,520,920. Delta had 6,015,333; Rivers recorded 3,462,421 and Calabar came last with a paltry 2,159,099.
The number of passenger traffic at the Calabar Port within the period under review was put at 6,704 in 2017 as against 7,442 in 2016. Ship traffic record of ocean going vessels in the five-year analysis showed a downward slope from 4,837 in 2012 to 4,175 in 2017. The GRT increased from 120,818,683 in 2012 to 131,569,821 in 2017.
The Calabar Port, which is one of the Eastern ports, has remained dormant for years thus forcing importers and exporters to risk the deplorable roads and go to Onne or
Minister tasks new boards to reposition Customs, others
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday urged newly-inaugurated board members to reposition the agencies entrusted to them and ensure their mandates are achieved.
Adeosun made the call in Abuja while inaugurating the boards of four parastatals under the ministry.
The boards are the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), and the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS).
She highlighted some of the projects each agency was working on, while stressing the aim to increase government’s non-oil revenue, create jobs and achieve economic transformation.
“The President had a choice of 180 million Nigerians to choose from and he settled on you. To have chosen you, proves the confidence he has in you, which should not be taken lightly.
“I wish to reiterate the support of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Government in carrying out your duties,” she said. Responding on behalf of the board members, Emmanuel Nwosu, who is the Chairman of the board of National Insurance Commission, thanked the Federal Government for their appointme
Sifax urges govt intervention on ports access road
To save businesses from the impending shut down due to the deplorable state of the Tin Can–Coconut port access road, General Manager, SIFAX Off Dock Limited, Oliver Omajuwa
has urged the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to fix the road.
Omajuwa made the appeal on the back of the on-going palliative measures currently embarked upon by different stakeholders. He noted that with the early rains coming in February, it is a clear indication that 2018 might likely be a year of heavy rains, with devastating effects on businesses, operating in the axis, as well as other road users.
Said he, “With the deplorable state of the Coconut access road, there has been tremendous delay in container transfers from various ports where we receive consignments. This has resulted in loss of revenue as the company cannot charge client until containers are successfully received at our terminal.
‘’For every day containers are delayed due to the bad access road, bonded terminals operating around lose revenue in storage, idle man-hour, electricity power wastage, because the terminals must be powered whether the containers come in or not, overtime and inconvenience allowances to staff, as well as other mobilization costs to various groups and agencies”
The SIFAX off Dock boss noted that it is a very difficult time for businesses located around the Coconut axis as their bottom line is daily eroded with various interventions on the road.
He explained that once every two weeks, SIFAX Off Dock provides its own palliative on the road by filling some bad portions with about 50 truck-loads of hardcore stones and sometimes when container-laden trucks are stuck in the craters on the road, the company moves out its equipment such as reach stackers and others to salvage the situation.
According to him, “The palliative measures currently embarked upon by stakeholders around the axis are not moving as expected. The road is in an epileptic state and it’s already threatening the existence of all businesses around Coconut area.
“Although the government has handed over the reconstruction of the road to Dangote Construction Company starting from Oworonshoki, I want to urge, as a matter of urgency, that the reconstruction of the stretch of road should start at the coconut axis.