MT Sea Voyager: Navy seeks integration into NPA’s Command, Communication System

By Dapo Olawuni              

The Nigerian Navy has called on the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to integrate her into the authority’s Command, Control and Communication Centre in order to assist the Navy is carrying out adequate protection of waterways and coordinate rescue for vessels in distress.

The Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Oladele Daji made the appeal in Lagos yesterday when the NPA Lagos Port Manager, Mrs Bola Olotu and her management team paid a courtesy call to the Naval boss.

The appeal is coming on the heels of a recent fire incident onboard a tanker vessel; MT Sea Voyager that caught fire while it was off Nigerian waters.

Daji stressed the need for synergy among all regulatory agencies in the maritime sector, as well as  a direct means of communication between all the agencies.

He noted that during his courtesy visit to the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman on his resumption at the base, the integration was one of his requests which is yet to be implemented.

He however commended the NPA management for their continued support towards the operations of the Nigerian Navy.

The naval boss noted the effort of NPA in the provision of buoys and servicing of navigational aids which hitherto where either disfunctional or have moved from position or not even seen at all along the channel.

Drawing analogy from the recent fire incident on MT Sea Voyager , he narrated that “On 14th of August, there was a fire incident onboard a vessel, MT Sea Voyager, NPA promptly responded in the morning when the incident first happened, I saw it live on our maritime domain monitoring system.
However, later in the evening at 1700hrs when the fires reignited, it was very difficult to reach both NPA, and NIMASA”

“There should be a direct means of communication between all the agencies, it is necessary more than ever before. If we had not had a vessel on patrol that night, it would have been practically impossible for us to see one of these ships from Navy Town to reach the ship and carry out the rescue”

“We need to make our systems better so that in case of such incidences, we can quickly deploy resources to tackle it” he said

Daji added that  as a fallout of his visit to the NPA MD, ” We still have some areas that are pending, this is on integrating the Nigerian Navy into the NPA Command, Control and Communication system”

“This is very necessary because the need for synergy and collaboration, we need it now more than ever before because of the level of threats and challenges on the waterways”

Speaking earlier in her opening remarks, Mrs Bola Olotu, NPA Lagos Port Manager appreciated the efforts of the Nigerian Navy in decongesting the Apapa gridlock.

She admitted that the NPA needs the  support of the Navy in terms of ideas and suggestions that would help in moving the Lagos ports forward.
According to her, the gridlock leading to Apapa ports is still present, despite a efforts by the Presidential task force recently appointed to coordinate it.

She said “I want to appreciate you for the efforts your officers are putting in places to decongest the Apapa gridlock, before now we know what we had, right now we know what we have on ground, but personally I am saying a big thanks to you”

“For any port to operate successfully, you cannot do it without the support of the Nigerian Navy, we are into the operations of the vessels when they come to our bar, but you are with them out there in the open field and ensuring the safe passage of these vessels along the channel until they start getting to designates safe areas”

“We thank you for your supports in the past and we solicit for more, especially for vessels coming into our ports, we want to ensure that they are safe” she said