‘Piracy soared when naval patrols nose dived’

Capt. Ernest Ishola

The President of Nigeria Association of Master Mariners, Capt. Ernest Ishola, in this interview with Assistant Editor, DELE ADERIBIGBE, concludes that piracy had soared because naval patrols or surveillance had dwindled. Excerpts

ARE you aware that in recent times, there has been several accidents in the nation’s waters?
Yes, I am aware.

How many accidents would you say have occurred within the nation’s channel in the past two years sir?
Well, going by the ones that had been officially reported to me, I will say we have experienced not less than ten accidents in the past two years.

We are aware that there is supposed to be a District Management Board which is supposed to monitor and prevent accidents in the channel. Who are the members of this board if it is true that there is anything presently like that?
As the President of Nigeria Association of Masters Mariners (NAMM), I am privileged to be among the Lagos District Management Board (LDMB) and that has given me the opportunity to know various happenings in the channels. In the past two years that we have been in the board which was inaugurated by the former Minister (of Transportation), we have put in our best. By the way, only the Lagos district was inaugurated here in Lagos. We have one in Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar, etc and they were all inaugurated in Abuja on the same day. The district members have all been performing their roles in the piloting system with the Chairman of this district being the Lagos harbour master. The arrangement has seen various master mariners come on board.

In Lagos we have representatives from Apapa Bulk Terminal Ltd. in the person Capt. Emmanuel Omotayo; Maersk Line, AP Moeller Terminal, and other stakeholders who are also representing some international associations of the masters mariners in person of Capt. Solomon Omotosho. We achieved a lot, especially during the era of Chief Sarumi who was very supportive on issues of such matters. At that point, things appeared dynamic, to the extent that a national board was formed incorporating members from these same pilots. I want to give credit to Chief Sarumi again because he engaged not less than 32 pilots (cadets) and they had opportunity to go for training both in South Africa and the United Kingdom and some of these pilots are presently on board the ABTL ships for practical trainings. Some are in the process of being absorbed by NLNG for their practical training to improve the condition of pilots and piloting in the country. So we have no reason to be having the high level of accident we are getting.

You have men of proven competence in the districts. So why are you recording such high level of accidents?
I want to say one thing: I have the privilege to head four committees, we have investigated some of the problems and we have found some of the causes. The recommendations of our investigations have given us room to know some of the things to do so as to improve the training needs. We are presently marshaling out a plan for these objectives, and which again, focuses on the improvement of piloting. It is a gradual process and we know we can’t change them overnight. We have to give them chance to absorb the little impact of knowledge you are giving to them. For the trainees that are on, we have got to give them time to mature to do as many movements of ships as possible.

Furthermore, we have also reviewed the grading of the pilots. Now, we have the grade one pilot, grade two pilots, grade three pilots and even the grade four pilots. There is also what we call the ‘Probay’, that is, the probational pilots who are not supposed to be piloting ships. We have eradicated the position of the ‘probay’. We have even removed the grade four pilots as well. We have now setup a syllabus and we have interviewed the currents pilots from that grades, (the probay and those on grade four) so as to make the good ones to be re-trained; and those who cannot make the interview, we have advised them to withdraw. We have gone a long way; and we have made that recommendation to the authorities. However, whatever the authorities decide to do is totally their own prerogative. But, at least we have made our own recommendations.

So, what would you say is principally responsible for the galloping number of accidents in the nation’s waters?
The blames must be given here and there. Sometimes some blames should go to ship owners who don’t declare the right draft that their vessel is drawing before coming in to the ports. So, it makes manoeuvering a little more difficult; and some of them end up being grounded thereby sometimes blocking the navigable channels for other vessels to pass. Of course, you may tag that as accidents resulting from improper information. On the side of human elements, sometimes, the old age of some of the pilots is another factor. Old age of some of the pilots, (not of the vessels) as some of them engaged by the NPA are old and are engaged on contract basis. We have had to review their contracts, so as to remove some of them from the system; they are on contract because we do not have enough pilots to do the job. Some of them are so old that they could not even climb the pilot ladder! And even if they had to climb, they had to hold their breadth in like in three places before they could go further.

Was the NPA looking for those with suicidal tendencies?
They were on contracts.

Were the authorities aware that they could be sued if those elderly sailors died in such state?
They were on contracts! All because they did not have enough qualified pilots to do the job.

And that was why they must attempt to commit suicide?
Well, I won’t call that suicide. Anyway, things have now been reviewed; so don’t let us drag the matter. And those who could not carry on have been eased out of the system. That was one of the corrections we have put in place.

So, what other major factor did you also discover?
Well, the other major issue was an attitudinal one. This aspect bothers on sometimes, indiscipline on the part of the pilots. In every bit of life, you meet this type of people. So, its not only the pilots that exercise this trait. I can give you one or two examples. You know you want to sail in a vessel and you require a tug boat or two to move the vessel out; you should know you need to check the tides; the movement of the water at that time; (ebbing or flooding); it takes a lot of professional considerations before a pilot should move a vessel. Now, if pilots cannot exercise required patience in order to perform a task creditably, then, that is where the word discipline must come in.

Was that what caused the accident of the vessel at …
I don’t want to mention names. Investigations are meant to be private issues. And we always make our recommendations to the authorities. So, it is not for public consumptions.

Okay, let us look at the issue of piracy. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says that at the pace the country is going, Nigeria may soon become the table leader in terms of piracy and violent crimes against ships and seafarers, making Indonesia and Somali look like little saints! Capt Ishola, what exactly is happening to our country?
Well, I will say two things. One is our militant problems. That has been an area of piracy. And from there we have also witnessed hijacking too. Of course, that has equally heightened tension in the area. The second one: the growing attacks on vessels at anchorage, mostly in Lagos. Of course, again, the reason may not be unconnected with our poor management of cargo information and this is shown by the attacks on vessels at anchorage. Even in our own days, our ships were also attacked. Ironically, for some of those ships which were being attacked by pirates, some of them have information not only of the ship manifest, but also the position of some containers, and the specific items inside them! Where did they get the information? And they would go straight for that container and empty it! And you know you dare not challenge them because they would shoot you.

So, how do the information in cargo manifest get out into the wrong hands?
That is a big issue for all stakeholders to tackle. That one is not a NIMASA problem alone now. Neither is it that of the navy or the marine police problem alone now.