NIMASA charged on seafarer registration

Segun Oladipupo

Chief Executive Officer Ocean Deep Services Limited, Mrs Rollens Macfoy has called on the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to increase its awareness campaign on the need for registration of seafarers in Nigeria.

Macfoy who made the call recently in Lagos, stressed the need for more sensitization for up-to-date database of Nigerian seafarers, adding that such information is key for the development of maritime industry.

According to her, if the database of seafarers was accurately captured, it would help the government to holistically attend to the needs of the sailors.

Her words, “NIMASA all the time says they have the data and we also see some seafarers that say they don’t know anything about NIMASA but my belief is that Rome was not built in a day.

“If there is a publicity like media publicity, newspaper publications, radio jingles that if you are seafarers in Nigeria, registration is ongoing now, come and register.

“NIMASA is doing SID but not all of them are doing it so we need them to awake, to be aware.

“We need more sensitization and again, we need to let them know why they need to do this registration for proper data to be captured and so that their problems will be holistically looked at.”

On implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 domesticated in Nigeria in 2012, Macfoy said that the process was too slow.

“MLC convention implementation is not fast enough but I don’t know if it is Nigerian factor,” she quipped.

Editing by ‘Biodun Soyele