Ship registration to be concluded in seven days...
Nigeria is targeting a yearly addition of 700 vessels from 2011 on its ship register following the migration from closed registry to hybrid registry by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). With the migration from closed registry which had restricted the number of vessels flying Nigeria's flag to less than 30 ships, the conditions for registration under the hybrid platform will be liberalised. This was revealed by Temisan Omatseye, director general of NIMASA, at the three-day training workshop for the League of Maritime Editors in Lagos.
Justifying the jettisoning of the closed registry, Omatseye who was represented by A. A. Akinyosoye, deputy director, cabotage services, NIMASA, said the hybrid platform will renew interest of the international oil companies on Nigerian flagged vessels for offshore support contract considerations. In addition to becoming a viable revenue earner for the Federal Government, he said the new registry will also reverse the trend where Nigerian flagged vessels are targeted at foreign ports under port state control.With the simplified and computerised registration procedure that enables the completion of registration within seven days, the NIMASA boss said annual tonnage growth of 500,000 will be achieved from 2012.
Omatseye said the hybrid register will also attract high tonnage vessels, including the Floating Production Storage and Offshore (FPSO) vessels and Floating Storage Offloading (FSO) vessels.With the new system, he said there will be rapid flag state response to emergencies of Nigerian flagged vessels under vessel responsibility. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Tony Ohakwe, president of the League of Maritime Editors, said Nigeria's maritime industry is faced with huge manpower challenges, especially in critical areas requiring specialised knowledge. To overcome the challenge, he called for concerted efforts to evolve a strategy for the training of personnel in all facets of the industry. He appealed to NIMASA to ensure that all conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Nigeria is signatory to are domesticated in collaboration with the National Assembly. Commending Temisan Omatseye, director-general of NIMASA for the success recorded in the implementation of the cabotage regime, Ohakwe called for a review of the terms of trade so that Nigerian shipping operators may get a share of the lifting of sea-borne trade, especially the export of crude oil.
Source: FG targets 700 vessels yearly under new ship register (http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8814:fg-targets-700-vessels-yearly-under-new-ship-register-&catid=85:national&Itemid=340)