The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has expressed willingness to partner with the government of Denmark in a bid to close maritime skill gap via training, technology transfer, maritime administration and security to further enhance Nigeria’s shipping sector.
NIMASA outlined these areas for partnership when a Danish delegation led by Kristin Skov-Spilling, Chief Technical Advisor from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited NIMASA headquarters in Lagos on Thursday.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, represented by Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Chudi Ofordile, welcomed the delegation, highlighted NIMASA’s existing collaboration with the Danish government through the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on maritime law enforcement and training maritime journalists.
He, however, expressed interest in expanding cooperation in areas such as conflict resolution, peacekeeping, and maritime security.
The Nigerian apex maritime regulator equally seized the opportunity to emphasized the significant attainments recorded in maritime security with the nation and across the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) region, stressing that the nation has led the fight against piracy by fostering collaboration, huge investments in infrastructure and legal frameworks.
He singled out the impact of the Deep Blue Project, commissioned by NIMASA in 2021, as being strategic in mitigating piracy and other crimes in the GoG region, even as he enjoined the Danish team to contribute to the discourse on the need to expunge Nigeria from the War Risk Zone and consequent war risk insurance premiums levied on ships and cargoes coming to the country.
While stressing that the records in over three years have shown a great reduction and in some years outright elimination of piracy and kidnapping in the Gulf of Guinea, the NIMASA boss lamented the lack of a corresponding reduction in removing war risk insurance premiums.
“We haven’t seen a commensurate response in terms of the reduction in the world’s insurance premium paid. We expect that there should be a reduction in those costs I mentioned earlier,” Ofordile stated.
When the Danish representative argued that the issue of insurance is being governed by private insurance companies and not under the purview of Denmark government, the NIMASA boss advised the visiting team not to create an assertion that there is a disconnect between government-led sanctions and the assertion that insurance companies are private entities when seeking premium reductions.
Speaking earlier, Kristin Skov-Spilling outlined the Danish delegation’s regional visit, was to explore areas for collaboration and partnership even as it sort to get a review of training activities carried out via KAITPC which held in collaboration with NIMASA in 2023.
The group, which included Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Benin, also noted that its activities focuses on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, women-centric issues, among other activities in shipping.
Although she observed that her team didn’t get authorisation to speak on the war risk insurance premiums being levied on Nigerian waters, Kristin assured the NIMASA team that their responses have been duly noted and will be conveyed to the Danish government.
“Unfortunately, on arger issues of War Risk Insurance Premiums, I cannot really make any statement on that because these shipping companies are private entities so I cannot make any statements on that. I also don’t have authorization to speak for the Danish Government on broad issues,” she remarked.
Meanwhile, she detailed the Danish government’s support through partnerships with UNODC, Interpol, and KIPTC, as well as military cooperation.
Also speaking, Mrs. Owolabi Gladys, head of the Deep Blue Project at NIMASA, provided statistical evidence of the project’s success, noting the absence of piracy incidents since 2022, with only one sea robbery incident recorded in December 2024.
She also highlighted opportunities for collaboration in skill acquisition centers established by NIMASA, aiming to provide alternative livelihoods and enhance information sharing in coastal communities.
“NIMASA as an agency has spent so much, and they need to be encouraged in terms of grants,” she said.
Isa Amodu, from NIMASA’s ISPS Code Implementation Unit, expressed interest in collaborating with the Danish government on port security and ship interfacing, recognizing Denmark’s strong maritime tradition.
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also engaged the maritime media practitioners who participated in the 2023 training by KAITPC on Maritime Security as it sought to understand the impact of the exercise and possible areas for improvement.
