Navy accuses mariners of hoarding information on dangers in waterways 

Tayo Oladipupo       |          

The Nigerian Navy (NN) has accused Mariners of not giving enough information in respect of uncharted dangers encountered during voyages within the Nigerian territorial waters

The Hydrographer of the Navy, Navy Commodore Emeka Okafor said this at a forum organised by the body of Nigerian Hydrographers in Lagos recently.

Stressing the efforts made so far, he said Nigeria had achieved phase one of the International Hydrographic Organisation Capacity Building Strategy by establishing the maritime safety information facility. 

He explained that the facility provides information of uncharted dangers to Mariners to improve safety, but added that the Mariners have not been giving enough of such information.

According to the Commodore, without receiving the information, it would be difficult to serve the Mariners better.

“We must remember that safety at sea is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders which requires Mariners including Naval ships  on patrol to report to the Hydrographic office any observed incidents likely to impinge on safety for the common good of all Nigerians.

He added that the NNHO has completed the charting scheme of Nigeria’s maritime space and has developed limited capacity for chart production.

“Before the end of this year (2018), the office will commence compilation of production of National chart scales for critical areas of Nigerian waters.

On training, four series of training charts have been produced and are available at the NNHO to aid maritime training institutions in Nigeria,” he stated.

The Naval Chief maintained that lack of adequate data repository facilities at the NNHO that used to cause draw back in the past, has been procured as well as associated facilities to address the issue.

“Marine geo-spatial data can now be safely archived in the standard format and subsequently retrieved on request for use as required” he added.

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