Stakeholders condemn foreign domination of Nigeria’s shipping business

Maritime industry stakeholders have expressed worry over the continued domination of the Nigeria’s shipping business by foreign owned shipping companies at the expense of Nigerian ship owners.

Speaking at the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) Annual Workshop held recently in Lagos, Adebayo Sarumi, a former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), condemned the continued flouting of extant laws that reserve the shipping of some cargoes for local vessel.

According to Sarumi, foreign shipping companies have been dominating the business of lifting all project cargoes in contravention of Nigeria’s shipping policy that reserves the shipping of Cabotage cargoes for indigenous shipping companies.

“Beyond offshore oil support services, Nigerian ship owners also have roles to play in the carriage of cargo all over the whole place. Therefore, ship owners need to fight for their right to access the cargoes set aside for lifting by indigenous shipping owners,” said Sarumi at the workshop themed: ‘The Nigerian Maritime Industry: Galvanising Stakeholders Engagement for Sustainable Growth.’

Sarumi, who said Nigerians should insist on carrying most of the project cargo, insisted that the business of shipping project cargo should not be left to the supplier to look for shipping companies from his country.
He advised ship owners to think of the possibility of diversification, saying there was no reason for Nigerians not to trade within the North and Central Africa region.

Dakuku Peterside, director-general, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), who delivered a lecture on: “Effective Policy Implementation: A Panacea for Sustainable Participation and Growth of Nigerian Maritime Sector, promised that the agency would begin the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) in the first quarter of 2019.

Peterside noted that the disbursement of CVFF would crash the interest rate on loan for vessel acquisition to single digit, adding that the effective utilisation of the CVFF would also create more jobs in the country.

He said NIMASA would continue to publish the maritime forecasts to enable ship owners understand the direction of the industry with the available statistics.

“NIMASA is working on manpower audit to train Nigerians to attain the level of manpower required in the country and also looking at shipyards and supporting them to equip their vessels to provide jobs for Nigerian youths,” he said”.

He noted that poor implementation of policies and lack of enforcement would lead to failure of numerous policies in Nigeria.