The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has been indicted for the inability of Nigerian seafarers to secure employment opportunities onboard foreign ships ahead of their peers from other countries.
While leading seafaring nations have prioritized having Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with top shipping nations, NIMASA has failed in its diplomatic role to give Nigerian license holders a level playing field in the comity of maritime nations.
Speaking on Live Conversations with Maritime TV Africa, on Monday, Mr. Emmanuel Jeremiah, explained that for a seafarer to work onboard a foreign vessel, that flag must have an MoU with the seafarer’s country of licensure.
His words: “In 2018, after our studies in Ghana, we realized that most of our colleagues especially Cameroonian and Ghanaian license holders ended up getting employment opportunities onboard foreign ocean-going vessels. Nigerians, however, ended up with opportunities within the nation’s territorial waters.”
“When we asked some of the foreign liners why they weren’t taking Nigerians, they complained about the Nigerian image in the international community, absence of an MoU with the Nigerian maritime administration and other complications getting passports.”
He, however, pointed out that Ghana has MoUs with over 30 shipping nations, adding that this gives Ghanaian license holders an advantage.
“Ghana recently sealed an MoU with UK, but they already had agreement Malta, Singapore, among others. despite being the giant of Africa and receiving vessels from top shipping nations, Nigeria doesn’t have an MoU with these countries, therefore, they keep rejecting Nigerian license holders onboard their vessels. Nigeria can equally reach an MoU with Maersk Line, PIL, to prioritize Nigerian cadets,” Emmanuel said.
The seafarer, who is currently onboard an American vessel, also stressed that Near Coastal Voyage (NCV) and less than 3000 GRT Limitations should be scrapped from the Officer of the Watch (OOW) Licence issued by NIMASA because it isn’t applicable anywhere in the world.
“We have been encouraging the government to follow the standards globally because OOW shouldn’t have a limitation. The only difference in class is that those who have BSc gets exempted from professional courses while those with ND and years of experience as ratings can move up by doing the professional courses,” he remarked.
Emmanuel also observed that poor renumeration, welfare and unfair treatment of seafarers in Nigeria makes foreign opportunities more appealing and rewarding to the professionals.
He alleged that following the influx of Nigerian seafarers into Ghana for trainings and unlimited license, Ghana recently started giving Nigerian seafarers NCV on management license aside the OOW with an excuse that the vessels didn’t sail from one continent to another.
“We have started telling our members to stop going to Ghana for trainings. It costs a minimum of about N15million, which is about $10,000, to get an OOW or Class 2 certificate in Ghana. While the OOW is still unlimited, The Class 2 that used to be unlimited now has NCV limitation, but we have told our members not to spend this much only to end up with a limitation in Ghana.”
Comparing the seafaring profession in Nigeria to the Western countries, Emmanuel said: “In Nigeria, there are no insurance packages for seafarers but abroad it is a top priority. I signed my insurance for my current company before commencing work. While working in Nigeria, I never saw my insurance papers, let alone signing them.”
“You can find a seafarer travelling from Port Harcourt to Lagos for an interview that can be done online. Salaries are also poor for seafarers working in Nigeria, meanwhile the prices of the trainings, which are in dollars, keep increasing. The poor renumeration of Nigerian seafarers currently makes it difficult for them to renew their licences via trainings that are priced in dollars globally.”
