NPA set to establish treatment facilities in ports

Tayo Oladipupo |

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has stated that it is set to heighten inspection of ships calling on Nigerian ports henceforth.

The General Manager, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) of NPA, Yusuf Ahmed, who disclosed this at the Ballast Water Management Awareness and Sensitization organised by the NPA in Lagos, added that the agency was working towards establishing treatment facilities in the nation’s seaports.

“We are going to step up the inspection of ships when they call on Nigeria to see that they have done the exchange in line with the regulations. They have to do them properly and create areas where they can do that. So we are introducing this inspection that is why we have the Shippers Company, Terminal Operators to be here for them to understand what we are trying to do”.

He maintained that the agency would ensure that ships calling on Nigeria waters conform to the regulation.

Yusuf, also reiterated that the sensitization program was necessitated by the need for the agency to carry other stakeholders along.

According to him, there are huge potentials in having an off shore treatment facilities adding that there is a huge market potentials there.

He maintained that they are going to rely on exchange to ensure that ships do their exchange before calling on Nigerian waters.

“So we are working towards seeing that we provide treatment facilities in our ports in the long run. Because we anticipate that many ships will rather patronise off shore treatment of their ships than fitting the treatment facilities on the ships because of the cost and the time it will take to do that. So there is a huge potential of market for that and we are capitalising on that. But for now even before the implementation, we are going to rely on the exchange we will ensure that the ships do the exchange”

He added that NPA on its own has decided to do what is expected of it especially in the area of ships calling on the Nigerian waters.

“Nigeria is obliged to carry out some certain things in respect of ships calling at Nigerian waters with regards to inspections, facilities in place and there is enforcement and many agencies have responsibilities on that regards. And the government having realised that, has formed a national taskforce on ballast Water Management Convention and that is the one point.

“Now for us at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) we are more involved since these ships actually call at our ports. We decided to be proactive; we have designed methodology for ensuring that we do what is expected of us under the convention. And for us to implement that we have decided to bring together stakeholders including other relevant agencies like the shipping companies, terminal operators and everybody we feel will be affected to discuss the convention and understand their feelings and expectations”

“By the time we do this it will help us to explore all our plans and also in the implementing the Ballast Waters Convention. We are going to let the stakeholders know the steps we have taken at the convention to ensure compliance”

Explaining further, he said that the treatment is not compulsory for now adding that there are other options.

The GM said that any ship that doesn’t have the capacity for treatment can stop about 200miles outside the coast of Nigeria waters and exchange its waters before coming in.

“On our part we are taking steps on what is expected of us as NPA and ultimately what is expected of Nigeria. Of course for non-compliance, there are sanctions but the treatment is not actually compulsory for now, there are options. There is an option of exchange if the ship coming into the country does not have a treatment plant on board, and we don’t have a treatment plant in Nigeria, the ship is supposed to stop at a minimum of 200miles of the coast of Nigeria in waters that are not less than 200 meters deep to do the exchange. That is to say to discharge the waters that it is carrying and then take waters from there before coming in. This is the D1 option”.

He also said that ships can also have their treatment equipment fitted on the vessels even as he added that due to cost, ships no longer carry their treatment equipment on board vessels.

Explained further, he said that its only 5-10% of ships that have been able to get the treatment plant.

“The D2 option is the actual treatment option that can be done on board. Ships are supposed to be fitted with treatment systems. However there are challenges with that because with well over 6,000 ships plying the waters and the cost of fitting the system is in millions of Dollars; ships are not eager to put the fittings in place.

“So you find out that it is only about 5-10% of the ships that have gotten the treatment plant. The other option is to have treatment facilities on shore the country of destination. And now we have plans for that but that is not what I can tell you that will be ready in the next two years, it will take a long process to actualise that. It is the IMO that have personalised these two and they have given deadline I can’t remember but I think it is 21 or 22 for either the D1 for the ships to have on board treatment of the off shore treatment where it is going. By that day every ship is expected to treat their ballast waters” he concluded.