A former Government Inspector of Ships (GIS), Mr Olu Akinsoji, last Wednesday expressed concern that Nigeria did not have enough surveyors to inspect ships coming into the country.

Akinsoji, a marine engineer, told newsmen in Lagos that Port State Control should be done by ‘exclusive surveyors’.

Port State Control (PSC) is one of the strategies used to ensure the protection of lives and properties at sea and preservation of marine environment, one of which is ship inspection.

“But do we have exclusive surveyors to go round the ships? We do not have enough surveyors to visit the ships and meet the required 25 per cent inspection,’’ he said.

He told journalists that the minimum inspection was supposed to be 25 per cent of ships visiting the ports.

Akinsoji, who was also a former Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Representative at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), recalled that in the past regular recruitment was made into the sector

He said that about 13 years ago, some surveyors were recruited, adding that at that time, nine mariners and chief engineers were also employed by government.

“At that time, we thought training of cadets would be intensified, but unfortunately, we were not able to follow the programme of training young surveyors.

“By the time the employed surveyors and mariners were old and laid-off, government still did not have replacement for them,’’ Akinsoji said.

The mariner said that the nation could do a lot more than it was doing in the maritime industry, if training of surveyors was made a priority.

He acknowledged that government had made a lot of efforts in implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code, but that the impact of the ISPS was yet to be felt.

“We are still lagging behind in the area of security. Ships are still vulnerable in our waters,’’ the mariner said.