By Yemi Olakitan
To ensure that Dangote Group does not breach any regulation of the Federal Government as regards wet cargo affreightment, the Director General, of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh, has pledged the agency’s commitment to smooth operation for Dangote refinery by implementing the regulatory instrument under the provisions of the Cabotage law.
Jamoh, who made the assertions during a recent courtesy visit by a delegation from Dangote Port operations, led by the Managing Director Dangote Port Operations, Akin Omole to NIMASA, said that the agency will work with Dangote Ports
Both parties agreed to set up a working committee to address the operational concerns at the refinery within 14 days.
“I suggested a joint committee with membership from NIMASA and Dangote to sit down and look at issues objectively. Our priority is to ensure regulatory implementation does not impede the operations of Dangote Port and by extension, the Dangote refinery.
“Though the coming onstream of the Dangote refinery would lead to a drop in NIMASA revenue because ships importing petroleum products would reduce drastically thus reducing the three per cent freight levy collected by the agency.
“However, Nigerian economic growth and long-term benefit to the Nigerian masses is far better than immediate revenue for NIMASA,” he said.
On his part, Omole said his team would ensure that the refinery is not in breach of the Cabotage Act.
He said: “We talked about business being done in a way that there is no obstruction, no delay.
“In shipping, a day’s delay is a huge cost; we have over $50,000 demurrage on a ship per day, so we want to be sure that these kinds of delays are not experienced. All bottlenecks, and hindrances that will cause the delay will be addressed jointly and collaboratively with our team and NIMASA,” he said.