‘Appoint Presidential Adviser On Maritime’

Worried over the poor attention and allocation enjoyed by the Maritime sector in Nigeria, Chairman of the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria(ISAN), Chief Isaac Jolapomo, has called on the federal government to establish office of Special Adviser to the President on Maritime matters. 

Chief Jolapomo made the call during the Nigerian Flag Registration Development and Maritime Stakeholders forum organised by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in collaboration with ISAN in Port Harcourt.

The ISAN boss maintained that if the office is created, it would help speed up growth in the sector considering the revenue potentials in the maritime sector.

Chief Jolapomo lamented that the sector is yet to reach its maximum potential because of poor funding and neglect and called on stakeholders in the sector to join hands to move it forward.

He said shipping business is not an all-comers profession, as a lot of quacks and fraudsters have infiltrated into the sector thereby stifling the growth of the sector.

Earlier in her paper, Registrar of ship in NIMASA, Mrs. A. J. Musa, said the function of the ship registry is the allocation of shipping rights to public and private individuals.

She disclosed that there are two categories of registration which owners must comply with before operation license is awarded.

According to the registrar of ships, full registration is renewable every five years, while provisional registration is only tenable for six months until the papers are complete.

Mrs. Musa maintained that once a ship is registered, it’s expected to go through annual surveys and revalidation exercise to certify safety and standards of vessel.