The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, on Wednesday restated that the agency would be fully committed to developing indigenous capacity for Nigeria’s maritime sector under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) regime remains priority for this administration.
The industry expert made the promise while on tour of Marine Platform’s African Pioneer Lagos Vessel, a Nigerian-flagged offshore Diving Support Vessel (DSV) measuring approximately 143 metres in length with a deadweight of about 8,000 metric tonnes equipped to support specialised deep water subsea construction, diving, inspection and offshore oil and gas operations.
The NIMASA boss enthused: “I’m quite happy at what I have seen today after the tour of this 8,000 metric tonnes African Pioneer Specialised Vessel. A vessel such as this flying the Nigerian flag should have priority over any foreign vessel. We are automating the Nigerian ship registry to make it more attractive and to ensure that more vessels like this fly the Nigerian flag.”
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Marine Platforms Limited, Taofeek Adegbite, noted that his company had benefited from the cabotage regime and expressed his delight on the Nigerian flag hoisted on all marine platform vessels operating in nation’s waterways.
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He expatiated: “Since 2012, when we got our very first vessel Mt. African Vision, we are happy and proud to say NIMASA’s Cabotage Regime and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board Act has played a major role in ensuring that our vessels have contracts on a regular basis.
“We have no regret flying the Nigerian flag and I will invite more ship owners to register their flags in the Nigerian Ship registry. At the moment we would appreciate a classification in such a way that the crew who are operating very big vessels are given special attention so that more very large vessels can fly the Nigerian flag”, the expert added.
Adegbite commended the NIMASA’s management for support to his company, noting that the vessel demonstrates the capacity of Nigerian companies and professionals to operate to international standards.
According to him, flying the Nigerian flag provides greater opportunities for the development of indigenous maritime manpower as Philippines are globally recognized for seafaring while Norway is renowned for shipbuilding, adding that Nigeria could similarly develop a globally recognized area of maritime specialization to showcase her creativity and innovativeness in the global blue economy system.
