The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) reinstated its commitment to collaborations with international institutions for sea time training of Nigerians under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).
Namely, Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, noted this during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Agency and the Maritime Academy of India for on-board sea time training of some graduates of the programme. Mr. Peterside said the MoU covered the training of 60 cadets in three batches of 20 each.
This MOU will help reduce the amount of cadets awaiting sea-time by clearing up the first 60 of the backlog in three batches of 20 each
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He also congratulated the 20 trainees under the first batch of the scheme and asked them to be dedicated, disciplined, and committed to making the best use of the opportunity to develop themselves and aid national development.
The Director General also expressed NIMASA’s determination to explore and use appropriate ways to make sure that Nigerian seafarers got the right exposure and training to succeed in the global maritime space, saying that in the immediate future Nigeria would be supplying qualified seafarers globally.
In addition, NIMASA is negotiating with other academies with access to ocean going training vessels in countries, like Turkey and UK, among others, to ensure sea time for Nigerians. Now, Dr. Dakuku Peterside wants to replicate in Nigeria the progress recorded under similar partnerships in countries, like Philippines, in the area of providing seafarers to the international market.
Until now, NIMASA has trained around 2000 Nigerians under the NSDP scheme, with many cadets at various stages of completion of the programme. The Agency is mitigating the issue of sea-time training for the cadets through full sponsorship, in cooperation with some international institutions that have access to ocean going training vessels.
Some cadets have already done their on board sea time training under the first phase of the NIMASA fully-sponsored sea time training programme, facilitated alongside the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Marine Transportation in Alexandria, Egypt.
NIMASA has also trained some Nigerians under a partnership with universities in the Philippines.
