Shipping Expert Hails Introduction Of Maritime Expo

President, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt, Rtn. Chidi Ikeji (8th right) and other Rotarians with beneficiaries of Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Computer training programme at Elekahia, Port Harcourt, yesterday. Photo: Prince Obinna Dele

A professional Shipper in Port Harcourt, Mr James Eribe, has said that the introduction of the Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) is a boost to Nigerian Commercial Shipping Operators.
Eribo who was speaking to The Tide at the weekend in Port Harcourt explained that the benefits of commercial shipping business, which foreigners tend to dominate had been enjoyed by them, since only the foreign shipping firms get business but that changes have taken place.
He said “Before NIMAREX, the number one problem was that businesses meant for indigenous ship owners had always been hijacked by foreigners and, to a very large extent, it was because we didn’t have a platform for the indigenous ship owners to showcase what they are capable of doing.”
According to him, NIMAREX in the past four years had done that, and has also arranged deals between investors and local interest groups.
Eribe, who is the manager of Ranny Vessels explained that fraud in Nigeria was an issue, which made it difficult for investors to indentify who to deal with but that the introduction of NIMAReX has  taken care of that to a very large extent.
He stated that it is easier for NIMAREX to identify the genuine operators locally and then encourage the investors to deal with the genuine operators adding that it has done remarkably well in that.
On capacity building efforts in the industry, he said that it will be better to build more institutions locally than to send cadets abroad for training, stressing the need to strengthen existing training institutions.
He said that some Nigerian professionals were knowledgeable enough to offer specialised training that could cover more people locally and urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Academy (NIMASA) to partner with local institutions.

Corlins Walter