The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) says it is developing guidelines to promote safe administration and management of the marine sector.
The council told stakeholders on Wednesday in Abuja that the guidelines would be applicable to the Nigerian Maritime Industry, covering Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering.
The stakeholders meeting is entitled: “Regulation for Maritime Engineering, Naval Architecture and Marine Surveying Practice in Nigeria’’.
COREN President Ali Rabiu said that the engagement was to ensure inclusiveness in the regulation of the maritime sector and guarantee engineering best practice.
He said that the global maritime industry had witnessed major expansion in scope by which its activities had grown in specialised exploitation of resources in the marine environment.
According to him, engineers in the maritime industry are expected to be trained to acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and competence to handle design, development, construction, installation, operation and maintenance of the systems.
“The maritime industry has well-established and globally accepted safety and quality assurance standards that are operated by instruments of International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
These instruments include Resolutions and Guidelines of SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), Maritme Safety Committee (MSC), Flag State Administrations and those of the Classification Society.
“These are adopted globally and strictly enforced as statutory requirements by most maritime nations and operated independently.
“Essentially, the present safety and quality management structure in the maritime industry derives its sustenance from the strong and consistent support of operators in the maritime industry.
“In line with this COREN constituted a technical committee to develop framework outlining guidelines for engineering practice in the maritime industry,’’ Rabiu said.
Rabiu noted that the guidelines would specify requirements for certification of firms and engineers desiring to carry out specified engineering functions in the maritime industry.
Earlier, Mr David Omonibeke, Vice-president COREN, said that the guidelines would help to curtail maritime mishaps which were usually not visible to the public.
“We in the industry are aware of people that maybe don’t really have the requisite engineering background training that are doing an engineering practice, and you see the ones that are trained don’t even have the opportunity to practice.
“If you must practise in the maritime industry, you must do it by the books, so you must have a requisite engineering training registrable by COREN,’’ Omonibeke said.