The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) Dr Dakuku Peterside, said the agency would ensure high standards of vessels and oil platforms operating within the nation’s territorial waters.
A statement by the Head, Public Relations of the agency, Hajia Lami Tumaka, yesterday in Lagos noted that Peterside explained that the standardisation of vessels was in line with the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS ’74).
Peterside was speaking with officials of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Asia Pacific Region led by its president and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Derek Novak in Singapore.
The director-general said that Nigeria could not be a dumping ground for substandard vessels.
He solicited the support and cooperation of classification societies such as ABS to establish and maintain high technical standards for construction and maintenance of vessels and other maritime structures.
Peterside said that the maritime sector as the facilitator of the nation’s economy was growing at a rapid rate, adding that the sector needed all the support it could get.
He advocated regular ship survey to ensure compliance with set standards and assured the delegation that it was one of the priorities of the new administration in NIMASA.
Novak said that ABS had been working with Nigeria for a long time, adding that the Bureau would continue to maintain the high standards for which the ABS was known.
He promised to work with NIMASA in order for the agency to benefit from some of the training opportunities offered by ABS.
Novak said that Nigeria “is properly positioned to emerge as the shipping power house of West and Central Africa if it puts its house in order and build on its infrastructure and human capacity.”
He described Singapore as a great maritime nation with which Nigeria should seek closer ties.
