Nigerian seafarers: redeeming dying glory of endangered species

It is estimated that about 90 per cent of world trade are sea-borne which supposedly makes maritime industry the most vital component of the world economy.

Driving this vital vehicle of the world economy are professional seamen who work on vessels that move the larger chunk of the world’s trade goods.

In a modern parlance, these professionals are called seafarers which comprise deck officers and ratings. Just as blood is life to humans, so are seafarers the arteries of the maritime industry. Without them, there would be no maritime and without maritime, the world economy will be endangered.

The importance of these professionals was sharply underscored by the special recognition accorded them by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) through its various conventions and pronouncements one of which was a special day dedicated to celebrate their invaluable contributions to global economy. Thus, for the past eight years since 2010, June 25 of every year was set aside as a day of the seafarers.

But sadly, despite the importance and crucial role of seafarers in any nation’s economy, Nigeria is yet to accord these rare species their rightful place in the scheme of things. Government through successive maritime administrations in the country has treated the matter and welfare of Nigerian Seafarers with levity so much so that they have become endangered species with a bleak future.

Nigeriamaritime360.com is not only saddened by this development but equally unsettled by the grave economic consequences of such negligence. Our worries were further deepened by the realisation that the country, through years of neglect of developing the solid and capable seafarer’s pool, has robbed itself the stupendous economic advantages of this critical segment of the maritime sector.
It is a well-known fact that the Philippines, which has become the global capital of seafarers, contributing more than 25 per cent of global seafarers, earn annually more than what Nigeria prides itself of earning in the oil industry. An estimated numbers of Filipinos in the excess of 15 million said to be seafarers abroad remit an estimated sum of $30 billion annually to their country as earnings.

Why has Nigeria failed to leverage on her rich human and material resources in maritime to develop a robust seafarers’ pool that will become a cash cow as the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Russia and Ukraine which has made them the leading suppliers of seafarers in the world.

The misfortune of Nigerian Seafarers could be traced to the collapse of Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), the only national carrier in the shipping industry.

NNSL was liquidated in 1995 as a result of heavy debt burden which culminated to seizures of most of its 25 vessels by its legion of creditors abroad. The story of the successor company, Nigeria Unity Line (NUL) was no better as it too could hardly survive with its single vessel, MV Abuja. Since then, Nigeria has lost its pride of place in global seafaring profession as that generation of seafarers began to deplete through age and death. Unfortunately, the average age of the youngest qualified and certified master mariner and marine engineer in the country today is 59 years.

Over the years, Nigerian seafarers have been subjected to inhuman treatments by ship owners while some of them are said to be in jails in various parts of the world.

The plight of Nigerian Seafarers is aggravated by the unemployment and under-employment status of most of them while some are simply non employable.

However, it is gratifying to note that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is trying to remedy the long years of neglect of these professionals.

Firstly, the agency, which also oversees maritime labour, is trying to compel ship owners to treat the aging seafarers in their employment with a modicum of respect and decency by making them respect the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Decent Work Agenda.

Secondly, the agency is also trying to boost the depleting and ageing seafarers pool through its capacity building programme called Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) meant to groom and train young cadets in maritime institutions abroad.

According to NIMASA, the programme has produced 243 graduates while 1600 cadets are at various stages of completion of the programme.

As laudable as this efforts are, they have not improved the fortunes of Nigerian Seafarers.
It is sad to note that most of the beneficiaries of this programme are not employable due to lack of sea-time training. What they acquired was a mere theoretical knowledge without the complementing practical experience which sea-time training confers.

More distressing is the fact that while some of them roam about due to lack of job, others unfortunately took to piracy and other sea robbery attacks that are now prevalent on our waters. While others have become militants in the creeks, terrorising ocean going vessels. Even though NIMASA would want us to believe the contrary with its claims of securing sea-time training for the cadets.

According to the agency, 887 cadets are ready for sea time training while 2840 Nigerian officers and ratings were recommended to be placed on board Cabotage Vessels in 2018.
Where are the vessels, we want to ask?

We are more amused than agonised that NIMASA could only recommend these hapless seafarers to be placed on Cabotage vessels owned by beleaguered Nigerian ship owners who are under intense pressure to stay afloat the current turbulent business climate.

NIMASA could merely “recommend” to the ship owners but could not compel them because they are not under any obligation to accept such recommendation. That is what happens to a nation that has no single national carrier where such training could be guaranteed.

We ask, does NIMASA have moral right to ask the Cabotage vessel operators to absolve the cadets for sea time training and officers and ratings for employment when it has failed to empower them by its continued refusal to disburse the Cabotage Vessel Financing Funds(CVFF) over a decade now?

Due to government insensitivity over the CVFF disbursement, most of the struggling indigenous ship owners have had their businesses liquidated due to lack of funding and suffocating dominance of foreign operators.

We could only laud the few surviving operators who are still afloat through sheer gut and uncommon resilience but agreed to employ some of our seafarers and place few of the cadets on board for sea time training.

Accordingly, 2337 of Nigerian Seafarers have been placed on board from January to June, 2018 among the 125 Cabotage vessels registered by NIMASA under the same period.

We are sure if the withheld fund, which is lying idle in the vault of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has been disbursed, the moribund indigenous shipping companies would have been revived while new ones would have sprung up. This, we believe, would have equally translated to more cadets, officers and ratings getting on board.

We nonetheless commend the efforts of NIMASA in its bid to remedy the bad situation.
We recognise the fact that a total number of 239 cadets are said to be on board training vessels for their sea-time training in the first phase of the NSDP while another batch of 887 are being primed for similar training in the second batch. But we dare say that this is like a drop in the ocean.

We encourage the agency to sustain this momentum while the federal government should expedite action on the establishment of the National carrier, which to our grief, has suffered a fatal setback.

This platform will support any effort that will bring back the past glory of NNSL years when Nigerian seafarers were among the most sought after seamen in the world.

To this end, just as we commend the giant stride being made through the NSDP, NIMASA should not neglect its statutory responsibility of funding and sustaining the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron.

It is regrettable however to note that most of the over 5000 graduates of this premier maritime training institution lack the requisite sea time experience to be able to get employment.

We therefore recommend that the graduates of MAN, Oron are incorporated into the sea time training programme of NSDP.

Similarly, NIMASA should facilitate the sea time training of graduates from its sponsored maritime institutes in the four Nigerian universities as well as other maritime institutions such as College of fisheries and Marine Technology.
This, we believe, would boost the ageing and depleted seafarer pools that would launch the country back to the glorious years of NNSL.

We believe that if these efforts to revive the dying seafaring profession in the country are pursued with sincerity and necessary political will, the country will reap bountifully from the accruable benefits.

Our conviction is rooted in the fact that the world will constantly be in need of seafarers to power the burgeoning maritime industry. It has been discovered that for a long time to come, seafarers will be in short supply as demand for their services would continue to rise.

The global demand for seafarers is estimated at 1,545,000, with the industry requiring approximately 790,500 officers and 754,500 ratings. This indicates that the demand for officers has increased by around 24.1 per cent, while the demand for ratings has increased by around 1.0 per cent.

The current supply-demand situation highlights a shortage of approximately 16,500 officers and a surplus of around 119,000 ratings. While the global supply of officers is forecast to increase steadily, this trend is expected to be outpaced by increasing demand. The forecast growth in the world merchant fleet over the next ten years, and its anticipated demand for seafarers, will likely continue the trend of an overall shortage in the supply of officers.
This is despite improved recruitment and training levels and reductions in officer wastage rates over the past five years.

With these statistics, the seafarers market is deep and lucrative.
We hope the country will take advantage of this opportunity by revamping and rejuvenating its seafarer’s pool so it could partake from this global honey pot.