The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) stated that attempts were being made to lessen the high import costs that Nigerians face as a result of their designation as a war risk area.
NIMASA's director general, Dr Bashir Jamoh, made this disclosure during a segment of the weekly Ministerial Briefing hosted by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. He explained that the cost of cargo headed for Nigeria has been high due to the War Risk Insurance fees charged by foreign shipping companies.
The entirety of the Gulf of Guinea's international seas, according to Jamoh, has been verified to be free of piracy operations. Jamoh claimed that Nigeria is attempting to remove the war risk label based on the good progress of zero-piracy development.
Jamoh said the payment of War Risks Insurance has been going on for 25 years, as a result of the insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, but noted that with the recent safety record in the region, ships coming into Nigerian waters do not need to be obligated to it.
“Nigeria is being made to pay a high premium for every cargo that is coming into the country or going out of the country and by virtue of the trade situation in Nigeria, which we are import dependent; 90% of what we consume, we import it. So, it’s hell in escalating the prices of goods and services that we are receiving, which is connected to shipping.
“So, the main reason for payment of this War Risk Insurance was that Nigeria is being tagged as the most dangerous water you have to trade on. When your ship is coming to Nigeria, first of all, you have to pay the insurance of the vessel in the event, anything happens to that vessel; the insurance company will have to pay the entire vessel.
“Two, you have to pay for the valuables that are inside that ship, you have to pay the insurance of those valuables. In the event, the criminals attack the vessel, enter the vessel, and cart away the properties in the vessel.
“So, all those properties are insured. Then the human element, all the workers there, must be insured. In the event, they are killed or they are kidnapped and they have to pay the ransom. So, we have to pay”, he said.
Speaking about the level of safety achieved for ships moving into and around the Gulf of Guinea, Jamo said “in June 2021, Mr President commissioned that Deep Blue Project and what is the result? You can see the result; in 2017, we recorded 43 attacks or incidents; in 2018, we had 82; in 2019, we had 61; in 2020, we had 81; in 2021, it went down to 34.
“In 2021, by the third quarter of 2021, Nigeria recorded 27 years of progress that has never been achieved in a drop in piracy. This became a very encouraging report to the international community because they couldn’t understand how, or why.
“Ladies and gentlemen, from the first quarter to date, we have never recorded one single accident or incident in our own territorial waters in terms of a piracy attack. From the last quarter of 2021 to date, over a year now, no single attack in our own territorial waters.
“This led to the cancellation of the stigma placed on Nigeria as the most dangerous water and removed from the piracy list in March 2022. From March 2022, Nigeria has been removed from the piracy list for the first time in history”, he said.
Meanwhile, Jamo has disclosed that the disbursement of the long-awaited $350m cabotage funds will commence with the inauguration of the special committee next week by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, as 11 banks have been shortlisted for the purpose.
The Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), is an intervention fund created to help the development of indigenous shipping capacity in Nigeria
He disclosed that 11 banks have been shortlisted to disburse the fund, sourced from 2% contribution by indigenous ship owners from every contract executed in the nation’s waters.
The disbursement of the CVFF is backed by the provisions of Section 42(1)-(2) of the Cabotage Act 2003, enacted to promote the development of indigenous ship acquisition capacity by providing financial assistance to Nigerian operators in domestic coastal shipping.
He also disclosed that the National Seafarers Development Programme, one of the agency’s initiatives targeted at building capacity in the maritime sector, had produced 2,041 cadets since its kickoff in 2009.
According to him, 800 of the graduating cadets had secured placements in various maritime establishments globally, lamenting, however, that 120 of the cadets were withdrawn from the programme while 10 died in training.
Explaining why many of the graduates of the programme had rather gone to look for employment with foreign shipping companies, Jamo said NIMASA could not employ the teeming cadets because there are no local fleets available to absorb them.
According to him, the non-disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund has made it difficult for indigenous players to enter into the shipping business meant to absorb the NSDP cadets.
Since 2007, several Ministers of Transportation and heads of NIMASA have promised to disburse the CVFF to empower indigenous ship owners to acquire vessels.
Speaking on NIMASA’s achievements, he disclosed that the agency remitted N30b into Federation Account in the first half of 2022,
He disclosed security in the Gulf of Guinea had been largely aided by the Deep Blue project, adding that “the Gulf of Guinea has recorded zero attacks since the last quarter of 2021 to date
“We have not experienced any attacks in Nigeria since the last quarter of 2021 to date which was why they have removed us from the piracy list.
He disclosed that the agency has five vessels and ordered 7 new ones. Wrecks removal. Contractors on site removing wrecks.
“Under the Deep Blue project, the agency acquired 2 specials mission vessels, 3 specials mission helicopters, 16 armoured vehicles that can enter the creeks, 2 special mission aircraft, 17 special interceptors, 4 unmanned air surveillance, for data transmission for possible intervention, 600 specially trained forces to respond to threats on the high sea”, he said.