By Fidelis Ugbomeh
The former President African Shipowners Association Of Nigeria (ASAN) and Director General, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Temisan Omatseye, has said that the Deep Blue Project should be the security structure for anchorage areas in Nigerian maritime domain.
Omatseye said this at the maiden Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) annual lecture on Wednesday in Lagos with theme: ‘Maritime Security: Emerging Threats and Actionable Steps.’
According to him, every foreign shipping company pays $50,000 per vessel for security patrol boats at the anchorage, thereby increasing the cost of goods imported into the country adding secured anchorage area would reduce cost of shipping of goods into the country.
He explained that the Deep Blue Project could do the service free or at a much subsidised rate, since the former operator Ocean Marine Solutions Ltd. (OMSL) was accused of extorting shipping companies.
“We should stop playing politics with the shipping industry. There was a lacuna because of insecurity, hence the coming in of the OMSL to create a car park on the waterways, the Secured Anchorage Area (SAA).
“A joint venture was signed between Nigeria Navy for security and Nigerian Ports Authority for space, so if government wants to stop the SAA, it should be replaced,” he said.
Omatseye also called for the establishment of Response Zone Transit Corridor, to create a partial transit corridor in key high risk areas.
This, he said, would enable the country to be aware of vessels that were within the Nigerian maritime environment.
He listed some of the benefits of a secured anchorage as increased trade to Nigerian ports, revenue generation and to compliment the Deep Blue project.
Also speaking, Mr Emmanuel Maiguwa, President, Maritime Security Providers Association of Nigeria, stressed the need for a competent agency to man the anchorage.
He also called for proper framework that would help the country deal with maritime security threats.
The president, however, kicked against the idea of coast guard which he described as a nomenclature.
“If you look at it more specifically, we actually need to do a risk assessment because I have been involved in a lot of risk assessments.
“One needs to look at the parameters surrounding the routes and the water, the region of the area that has personal traffic. So, it doesn’t start and end with that portion being secured,” he said.
Maiguwa said that Nigeria needs to adopt the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code.
“I have always said that the ISPS provide only minimal requirements. It then means there are a lot of issues. In fact, the ISPS on its own is not applicable to all facilities.
“The ISPS is not an instrument conceived by the framework to deal with maritime security threats. It is not an instrument holistically to deal with terrorism.
“The framework is concerned that shipping will be used to launch terrorism attacks on the homeland and therefore it concentrated on the areas where foreign ships visit,” he said.
He, however, asked what happened to an adjacent facility that does not receive foreign vessels? What happens to our vessels that are actually outside the convention?
“Those were the risks to the environment. And I have said it and I will always emphasise that it is very important that we have a competent agency to man the anchorage,” he said.
President Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria Godfry Bivbere in his welcome address said whereas the association recognizes past and ongoing efforts corporate interest bodies including the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Navy and their regional counterparts to address issues of piracy and related maritime insecurities in the GOG, we are worried that high profile illegal fishing linked to international syndicate has passed with little or no checkmate.
According to him, MARAN is however worried about observed dissonance in the collective national effort to combat maritime economic crimes and crude oil smuggling, and call on the federal government and its relevant agencies to improve on coordination. I want to also especially call on the office of the national security adviser to the president, to have a firmer grip and supervision of the existing collabo between state and non state actors’ roles, in this regard.
He disclosed that International Maritime Bureau (IMB) report of July 2023 confirmed that GoG witnessed a surge in maritime incidents in 2023, with five such incidents in the first quarter and nine in the second quarter. Out of these, 12 were classified as armed robberies and two as piracy, predominantly targeting anchored vessels within the region.
In all the incidences, 14 crew members were kidnapped, out of which 8 were abducted from vessels on anchor. Additionally, in two separate hijacks, 31 crew members were taken hostage, communication and navigation equipment were destroyed, and some cargoes were stolen.
Bivbere enjoined Nigeria Government and her regional counterparts to come up with a more workable and result orientated approach to the fight against maritime insecurity in the GOG.
"We believe that until and unless the international syndicates involved in the menace are confronted, apprehended and regularly exposed, through international collabo as often happens with local criminals, the situation will not achieve any purposeful deterrence", he declared.
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