NIMENA identifies bane of Nigerian shipowners

Tayo Oladipupo |

The National Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Marine Engineering and Naval Architects (NIMENA), Engr. Henry Unuigbe made this known in his welcome address delivered at the 7th Annual Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Institution held in Lagos.

Unuigbe stated that the lucky ones to have access for the acquisition of ships do so through a double digit interest arrangement that ends up, in most cases, on a sad note even as he said such development had hindered growth in the shipping sector.

His words, “Ships remain an important asset in maritime activities and oil and gas operation. Nigeria must leverage on her position as a maritime nation and take strategic steps to stimulate growth in the industry.

“The challenge the Nigerian shipowner faces in this regard once again brings to fore the question, ‘Why are we not building ships’? It may interest you to know that NIMENA had since provided answers to this question in previous conferences.

“Truly, Nigeria cannot shy away from shipbuilding as its benefits are unimaginable. Continuous neglect of the shipbuilding subsector will not augur well for our dear nation. While it is acknowledged that investment in shipbuilding is humongous, government must create the enabling environment including putting sustainable policies in place in order to attract investment in this area”.

The NIMENA boss further said that ship repair yards were essential part of the infrastructure needed to support shipping adding that there was no doubt that the critical infrastructure was presently insufficient and not capable of meeting the industry demands.

“Without adequate and sustainable repair yards, shipowners will have no choice than to take their ships elsewhere for their maintenance and in most cases at a relatively higher cost. The economy suffers as a result of this”, he stated.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman of the occasion and President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu described the conference as a unique opportunity for members to chart the course for government and the players in the maritime sector so as to overhaul the sector for their collective good.

Mokuolu who was represented at the event by Engr. Tunde Zedoni hinted that the Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture was an authority that can actually tutelage both the federal and state governments on the profitable utilization of the nation’s waterways both internally and internationally in the interest of the country’s economy.

He added that report had it that the six Nigerian Ports Authority managed ports of Tincan Island, Lagos, Delta, Onne, Calabar and Port-Harcourt had partially performed due to the bold steps by government in concession which according to him had attracted private capital and modern management to the ports.

He continued, ”It is part of commendable effort of some of our investors operating in the country which triggered a jump in the Gross Registered Tonnage for the quarter 1, 2017 from 32.9 million tonnes to 33 million tonnes in quarter 2. This is still small in comparison to other advanced countries like the United Kingdom which handles 115.9 million tonnes of trade in the first quarter of 2017.

“For many years, we have focused our attention on the sector with the aim of assisting government to find solutions to the perennial problems that have destabilized it. Some factors have continually militated against the profitable exploitation of the sector for government to rake in sufficient funds to augment expenditure on infrastructure development and for the advancement of education.

“Every maritime activity is crucial for the vibrancy of any economy; therefore, I hereby use this occasion to call on all stakeholders to support the federal government in the achievement of its agenda in the sector. Recently, the industry players raised the matter of sufficient funds to invest, therefore, our erudite speakers should also delve into the aspect pointing to how funds can be sourced for generous investments”.

The NSE Chief similarly tasked the speakers at the conference to deal with the matter of the security of the waterways which he said was very important saying, “Our discussions should be holistic not losing sight of our desire to sustain our advocacy for our government to uphold the concept of Nigerian Content Development in all its ramifications. Therefore, I urge you to utilize the opportunity of this gathering to promote the Nigerian Content policy”.