Tag: NIMASA

NIMASA has successfully tackled the menace of piracy on the Nations territorial waters The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said one of its most outstanding achievements last year is in securing the nation's territorial waters in the wake of increasing piracy attacks worldwide.The agency's Deputy Director,Public Affairs, Hajia Lami Tumaka, told The Nation that the agency has successfully tackled the menace of piracy on the Nation's territorial waters.The feat, the image maker said, was made possible as a result of collaboration the Agency established with the Navy. This partnership with the Navy, Tumaka said, has made the work of NIMASA policing the nation's territorial waters, especially the Lagos axis, easier.She also said there has been a drastic reduction of piracy attacks within our territorial waters especially in the Lagos anchorage area. The result of this frustration to the pirates is that they moved toward the Benin Republic area in the course of the past year."When they were frustrated out of Nigerian waters, the Pirates intensified their activities in the Benin axis," she added.This situation resulted in the Benin Republic leader coming to meet President Goodluck Jonathan asking for Nigeria's assistance in containing the activities of the pirates," she ...

Audit of available ships and their capacity in the country in readiness Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as concluded an audit of available ships and their capacity in the country in readiness for their active participation in the lifting of petroleum products and other cargoes presently being dominated by foreign shipowners.Disclosing this to Vanguard in his office last week, Director General of the agency, Patrick Z. Akponolokemi, explained that the agency embarked on the exercise in readiness for the involvement of local operators in the maritime trade in the country in line with government directive. Akpobolokemi told Vanguard that President Goodluck Jonathan has directed that local operators should be incorporated as soon as possible.The NIMASA boss also pointed out that after several meetings with the Indigenous Shipowners Association of Nigeria (ISAN), some decisions were reached and work on these are presently ongoing to fully incorporate them in the lifting of the nation's crude, in fulfillment of the Cabotage law. Some of the decisions reached according to him are, what is required to make them benefit from shipping business in the country, how to help them get better vessels to meet the requirement of oil companies, audit of their ...

NIMASA has issued warning to all vessel owners, crew and agents operating on the nations waterway Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) has issued warning to all vessel owners, crew and agents operating on the nation's waterways to stay away from all forms of illegal activities or face the full weight of the law.It also threatened to arrest such impound that violate its guidelines.Speaking in an exclusive interview with Vanguard in his office, Director General of NIMASA, Patrick Z. Akpobolokemi said that the agency has put in place the necesary machinary to effectively implement the laws of the land and that of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).According to Akpobolokemi, "All ships owners operating in Nigerian waters that are involved in dubious activities to change and carry out activities that are legal because the days of criminality on Nigerian waters are over."You are aware of the alarming rate of illegal bunkering, unauthorised ship to ship transfer and other illegal activities in the waters of Nigeria which NIMASA has been confronting on a daily basis. We have promised Nigerians that we will stop illegal bunkering activities and piracy, as well as ensuring that the IMO regulatory convention, rules and protocols are ...

Oil thieves have been discoveredo be renting indigenous ships to commit crimes on Nigerian waters The Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has sounded a strong warning to indigenous shipping companies to be careful while chartering their vessels out as oil thieves have been discovered to be renting indigenous ships to commit crimes on Nigerian waters.Director-general of the agency, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, gave the warning while speaking on "Nigeria's Maritime Security Realities," at the inauguration of the newly elected executives of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) held in Lagos on Thursday.Akpobolokemi, who was represented at the occasion by the agency's deputy director, maritime safety and seafarers standards, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, warned indigenous shippers organised under the aegis of the Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) against the increasing cases of piracy within the Nigerian waters and admonished them not to be carried away by money while chartering out their vessels to other shippers.He noted that the pirates, who now adopt high technology in carrying out their nefarious activities, also go as far as chartering vessels belonging to genuine and unsuspecting indigenous shipping companies and use them to rob other vesselsHe however regretted that the indigenous ship ...

Over $100 million already accrued into the Cabotage Vessel Finance Funds Nigeria's apex maritime regulatory authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has asserted that the over $100 million already accrued into the Cabotage Vessel Finance Funds (CVFF) was strictly meant for Nigerian shipowners.The position of the agency came on the heels of speculation in some quarters that some highly-placed individuals had started positioning themselves by registering some nebulous special purpose vehicles (SPV) that would enable them access the accrued CVFF fund.THISDAY checks revealed that some of the lobbyists, who are top politicians, have been jostling to avail themselves of what they considered as a "national cake" through their associates in the maritime sector of the economy. Some of these associates are used by the top politicians as fronts to grab the juicy loan.Already, the management of the agency is under pressure to disburse the funds to the cronies of those close to the corridors of powers.Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Ziakede Akpobolokemi, who dropped the hint in a chat in Lagos said the management of the agency would resist pressures to give the fund that has so far accrued into CVFF to those who are not qualified ...

They get crude oil from smaller vessels from Nigeria and transfer these to mother vessels Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has arrested five vessels for illegal crude oil transfer and bunkering activities, off the coast of Lagos.NIMASA's Director-General, Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, who spoke in Lagos, Wednesday, said that the vessels were involved in illegal ship to ship transfer of crude before they were apprehended and are currently being detained.Akpobolokemi said the crew on board the vessels had also been arrested while the vessels were taken to NIMASA's guard Command pending investigation.He explained that before the vessels were arrested, their communication systems were switched off, a development that got NIMASA official suspicious.Akpobolokemi noted that some Nigerian elite had been discovered to be involved in high level criminality with regards to illegal bunkering activities.He said: "They get crude oil from smaller vessels from Nigeria and transfer these stolen crude to mother vessels, with connivance from Nigerians. Besides, the illegal ship to ship transfer, there are other areas of off-shore high level stealing of petroleum products"We must stop all legalities on our waters, that is a presidential order I just received and with the support of government, we will clear our ...

If urgent steps are not taken, the world's economy will run into problems The Federal Government through the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the International Maritime Organisation, IMO are currently working out plans to tackle the menace of pirate attacks against vessels in the Nigeria territorial waters.Speaking at the this years celebration of World maritime held at the Presidential Hotel in Prot- Harcourt River State, NIMASA's Director General Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi said that pirate attacks is changing the face of international trade negatively adding that if urgent steps are not taken to check mate their activities the world's economy will run into problems.Akpobolokemi stated that already, young men are weary of taking up career in the sea farering profession following the worrisome trend of attacks on sailors. He noted that the numbers of the world's seafarers have continued to dwindle and that pirates are also having a field day carting away billions of Dollars as ransom.Speaking in similar vein, IMO's Secretary- General Mr. Efthimios Mitropoulos said that the agency has developed a multi-faceted action plan designed to address the problem at different levels and are proceeding with its implementation in an orchestrated mannerHe was of the opinion ...