Maritime Stakeholder Decries Proliferation of Maritime Acts

Abiola Seun |

The former President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Eugene Nweke, has condemned the proliferation of Acts in the maritime industry.

He described the development as a catalyst for multiple taxation and inimical to investor’s confidence.

Speaking at the Maritime Focus Group meeting on National Shipping Policy organized by the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, Nweke advocated for a shipping policy that would give prominence to cargo consolidation, categorization for survey and export.

Stakeholders confirmed that the Cabotage law which aims to create a market for Nigerian-built and manned ships and to develop indigenous capacity for local, regional and global trade, is dominated by foreigners owing to lack of will and vital hardware to replace the foreigners.

Reacting, Chief Executive Officer, Marine Platforms Limited, Toafik Adegbite, condemned the negative impact of Temporary Import Permits for specialized offshore support vessels (OSVs) on the development of indigenous tonnage in Nigeria’s maritime industry.
He asserted that outright vessel procurement would remain unattractive as long as the Temporary Import Permit continues to be in existence, describing it is an easy way for operators to make money without adding any value to indigenous shipping capacity.

Furthermore, the recurring narrative about the absence of Nigerian-flagged ocean going vessels, compared to countries like Sierra Leone and Togo, who are already sending their ships out to international waters, reared its head again.
In this regard, General Manager Securities, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Capt. Iheanacho Ebubeogu, tried to play down Nigeria’s emphasis on ocean going vessels and advised operators to endeavour to dominate coastal trade before venturing further into international waters.

The experts also drew attention to the changes in transport demand and changes in the technology driving shipping internationally. They noted that with the advent of modern complex vessels, it had become imperative to review the maritime education curriculum to reflect current realities.

Chairperson of the Abuja MoU, Mfon Usoro reiterated the need for Nigeria to develop her areas of comparative advantage especially in human capacity. She said Nigerians possess the highest skillset in Admiralty Law in Africa and urged operators to optimize the opportunity.

Some blame was reserved for the private sector which experts accused of not doing enough to support growth in the industry. They posited that the private sector should drive development in shipping by identifying key areas and devoting resources therein.

“There needs to be a nationalistic mind-set in creating a business case for investment in the Nigerian maritime sector, while corporate governance, regulatory compliance and adherence to international best practices cannot be over emphasized.

In defence of private sector operators, President Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Dr McGeorge Onyung, who noted that Nigeria needs $3.5 billion worth of marine support for the oil and gas industry said that private interests accounted for more than 70 per cent of all assets in the maritime sector.

He also called attention to the fact that most Nigerian ships would become out-dated in about five years and cautioned that without a minimum of 10 functional shipyards in-country, the local shipping industry was heading for major crises.

The experts also resolved that there was an urgent need to develop Nigeria’s maritime security infrastructure and apparatus in order to curb illegalities on the country’s territorial waters