By Hauwa Ali
The Management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA,
and that of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, have agreed to set up a working
Committee meeting regularly to ensure improved liaison between both organization in
the interest of Nigeria.
This agreement was reached during a courtesy visit by the Management of the NLNG
led by the Managing Director, Dr Philip Mshelbila to NIMASA recently.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh noted that a better working
relationship between NIMASA and the NLNG would greatly enhance operations in the
maritime sector of the country.
He assured the NLNG Management that NIMASA would extend the already existing
working relationship the Agency has with the NLNG Ship Management Limited (NSML)
to the parent body, while also urging NLNG to consider the Nigerian Flag as first option
for her vessels.
“This is a new beginning; our focus should be what is best for Nigeria and not just for
the NLNG or NIMASA.” He said
While commending the NLNG for providing platforms for Sea time to train Nigerian
Seafarers, the NIMASA DG noted that the Agency is committed to attaining best global
practice, so that Certificates issued by Nigeria will be recognized globally.
“We are working to ensure that the Certificates of Competency issued by the Nigerian
Maritime Administration are of international standard. This he said will make it easy for
the NLNG and other international organizations to accept them”.
Jamoh said that the Agency needs the NLNG to boost the Nations Tonnage.
“NIMASA needs the NLNG, we desire to have Vessels of the NLNG fly the Nigerian
Flag, just imagine that Vessels of the NLNG are on the Nigerian Registry, our tonnage
will increase exponentially, the Nigerian Flag will earn much more respect globally and
we will get better recognition”, he said.
On his part, the Managing Director of NLNG, Dr Philip Mshelbila noted that the
management of the NLNG is committed to the deliberate indigenization of the human
component of its operation adding that they are ready to partner NIMASA to enhance
safety and security of lives and assets in the Nigerian maritime domain.
He noted that they are on the same page with NIMASA in terms of capacity
development and the quest to ensure Nigeria attains internationally acceptable
standards in her operations in the maritime sector.
“We at NLNG have realized that for us to fulfill one of our key vision elements, which is
helping to build a better Nigeria, it is important for us to work with all our stakeholders
including NIMASA.
“We are aware that NIMASA and our subsidiary, NMSL are working hand in hand for
the progress of this country and we desire that same spirit of partnership and
collaboration should be extended to the NLNG.
“I believe that for NLNG to fulfill its mission as a business it needs to partner with
NIMASA.
“NIMASA is an important stakeholder for us; we don’t just see it as a regulator only. I
know we have various training programs, working closely with NIMASA, being explored
by NMSL to provide sea time training for Seafarers, which has enabled the seafarer to
fulfill their qualifications and get certifications”. He said.
He expressed appreciation to NIMASA for the active management of the activities in the
Gulf of Guinea.
“We can certainly testify from the report that we get both locally and from international
bodies that there has been a huge success in the war against criminal activities in the
Gulf of Guinea and we know that the Deep Blue Project is instrumental in attaining this
success.
“Based on the information at our disposal; I don’t think there has been any case of
abduction since this year and that’s a testament to the success of Deep Blue Project
initiative that NIMASA has driven and this has been in collaboration with the Nigerian
Navy, Regional and non-regional bodies”, he said.
NIMASA and the NLNG have agreed to urgently look into areas including Port Charges
and how best to make Nigerian Ports competitive, effective implementation of the
Cabotage Law, Stevedoring charges, CoC recognition, and Registration of NLNG
Vessels on the Nigerian Ship Registry amongst others.
The Nigeria LNG Limited is jointly owned, as the Federal Government owns 49 percent;
Shell gas B.V owns 25.6 percent; Total LNG Nigeria Limited owns 15 percent; and Eni
International 10.4 percent, culminating into 51 percent ownership by the NLNG.