NIMASA, stakeholders brainstorm on information flow

By Dele Aderibigbe, Lagos

From left, chairman of Independent Ship
Owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN),
Chief Isaac Jolapamo; Director-General,
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
Agency(NIMASA), Dr. Ade Dosumu; Executive
Director of NIMASA, Ishaku Shekarau
and Captain Ebubeogwu Ihenacho of the
Nigerian Ports Authority, during maritime
industry meeting in Lagos. THE Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(NIMASA) and industry key stakeholders have brainstormed on evolution of a seamless information flow, as a boost for the implementation of the International Maritime Organisation(IMO) directives on the Long Range Identification and Tracking System(LRIT).

The Nigerian Fishing Trawlers Association (NITOA) has also appealed to NIMASA to leave no stones unturned in a bid to end the illegal activities of poaching by foreign fishing trawlers in the nation’s waters.

Highlighting that their collaboration could finally curb most illegal transshipment activities in the country’s waters, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Ade Dosunmu, cautioned against inaction, stressing that the agency had a determination to foreclose the dumping of all hazardous materials by foreign vessels within the territorial waters, in addition to full implementation of all domesticated international conventions by the country.

“We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders. We will always inform you of any IMO Convention the country domesticates and your cooperation is critical to sustaining Nigeria as a leader in the comity of maritime nations,” said Dosunmu, adding that on the dependence on foreign service providers for the provision of accounting on maritime radio communication for the maritime industry, that NIMASA would liaise with local operators to explore the possibility of enhancing our radio communication.

Impressed by the new gesture, chairman of the Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, lauded NIMASA, for collaborating with ship-owners and assured of its cooperation to ensure that Nigeria actually complied with the LRIT Convention, while assisting to boost safety on Nigerian waterways.

Affirming similar commitment,the General Manager,Marine Division, Nigerian Ports Authority, Captain Ihenacho Ebubeogwu,who represented the Managing Director of NPA, Mallam Abdulsalam Mohammed, observed that the LRIT would go a long way in enhancing safety and security on Nigerian waters, in addition to empowering the NPA to enhance safer shipping in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the President of the Fishing Trawlers Owners Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, has tasked NIMASA management to utilise the opportunity offered by present collaboration in the implementation of IMO Conventions in Nigeria to curb the activities of poaching by foreign fishing trawlers within the nation waters.