Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR, is the immediate-past Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). In this exclusive interview with News Diet magazine, Jamoh speaks on several pertinent issues in the nation’s maritime sector from International Maritime Organization (IMO) emphasis on safety to marine environment management, seafarers’ welfare to shipping development; while the NIMASA boss also unveils the agency’s biggest goals for 2024 and the agency’s position on the burning of ships allegedly involved in crude oil theft. Excerpts:
As the International Maritime Organization (IMO) prioritizes safety as the central issue for 2024; how does NIMASA intend to tackle the issue of safety in the maritime domain?
If you go to Kirikiri in Lagos, you will find two additional brand new boats. Last year, we ordered seven bulletproof boats. The essence of those bulletproof boats is to ensure the enforcement of our safety regulations. We received five last year and just last week, we received two additional ones.
If you can recollect, Millennium One and Millennium Two are used for search and rescue. They have been faulty for only God knows how long. Perhaps, since I became Executive Director, Administration and Finance, and that is about seven years ago – those search and rescue vessels were not working. Nevertheless, we have taken them to the Naval Dockyard, fixed them and they are now operational.
To address the issue of marine pollution, we have already completed the refurbishment of our pollution control boats. The next aspect has to do with the issue of safety is the issue of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). We have just acquired the equipment of the GMDSS, but we expect the delivery in the next two weeks.
All the centers of the GMDSS are going to be up and running before the end of the first quarter of 2024. On the issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, we have already launched the issue of greener shipping during the 2023 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).
NMASA was the champion for Africa to ensure a very stable and sustainable marine environment management. If you go to Kirikiri, you will find our brand new marine environment lab that enables us to continue to test our waters and identify any pollution. Therefore, we can control and prevent the pollution. As you know, search and rescue has to be addressed from different folds.
Using our helicopters that are with the Nigerian Navy, about 3 or 4 weeks ago, we had an operation alongside with the FOC Western Naval Command, to do some drills to ensure that we perfect the issue of search and rescue. We have a combined joint team between NMASA, Lagos State Government, and Nigerian Navy to ensure that we have an effective water, land and air search and rescue operations. There have also been other measures that we put in place to ensure safety on Nigerian territorial waters.
The agency’s efforts in tackling the menace of maritime security have been massive and rewarding; will similar commitment be challenged towards maritime safety with emphasis on wrecks removal?
On the issue of wrecks removal, before now we only removed wrecks when it’s absolutely necessary. At that time, we only removed wrecks posing navigation threats and forget about the other. However, in 2021, we compiled the entire wrecks we have on Nigerian territorial waters and requested Federal Ministry of Transport for approval to remove them. The ministry processed this request through the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and an approval was given for a period of 3 years.
The 3 year wreck-removal contract should end in 2024 to close the first approval we received from the Transport Ministry via FEC. As soon as it expires, the Navy now has a new hydrographic and oceanographic research vessel, NNS LANA. The vessel has the capacity to dictate wrecks everywhere. When we started removing our wrecks, the Navy hadn’t acquired NNS Lana. We had to do the identification and marking of wrecks manually.
Today, in NNS Lana, we have a ship that can automatically dictate wrecks and where those wrecks are. Removal of wrecks remains a growing concern, but as soon as this contract expires, we will go back in conjunction with Nigerian Navy’s vessel NNS Lana to identify further wrecks that we have in the marine domain, submit request for approval accordingly and remove them.
We have different arms of ensuring safety. IMO always encourages the Port State and Flag State Control administration; issues of wreck removals; then there is the aspect of search and rescue; safety under the GMDSS; and lastly the platforms that we can utilize to see. At NIMASA, we continue to equip our personnel with training and retraining so that they can understand all these issues and the modern approaches. Part of the training in search and rescue is basic life support. Even as you rescue, you give the victims basic life support before you take them to the hospital.
Talking about the hospital, we have built a dedicated hospital for search and rescue. Before now, our hospital was more like a consulting clinic, but we have built a standard hospital. We are entering into a partnership arrangement with the Federal Medical Center in Yaba. They are providing us with medical professionals that can work with us. The clinic will not only serve for the NIMASA staff, but also for accidents at sea, but also for seafarers that are coming from different parts of the world.
In addition to what we have in Apapa at Azare Crescent, we have another clinic at the Resource Center in Kirikiri like a sickbay. When we get the casualties, we go to the Resource Center very close to the water, revive the patient and then move the person to our hospital.
We will continue to pursue the issue of marine GHG emission and ensure that we achieve zero emission by the year 2050 as the IMO requested.
Looking at threats in the Nigerian marine environment, the issue of burning vessels alleged to be conveying stolen crude oil raises concerns. Have you had any discussion with the Nigerian Navy on this menace and what is NIMASA’s position on it?
Well, the issue of burning vessels, as far as NIMASA is concerned, the way you hear that a vessel was burnt, is the same way we get the information. Up to this point in time, nobody contacted us as to the policy or approval of burning vessels. But the interesting part of that policy is that in recent times, two vessels were caught with alleged stolen crude oil and those vessels were not burnt.
Both vessels were caught between November 2023 and January 2024 and they were not burnt. So, I believe there is going to be a change in the approach of burning vessels. As far as NIMASA is concerned, burning vessels will have a lot of environmental issues, pollution and other consequences that will arise. I am not in a position to appraise the policy on burning vessels. But, since we had the arrest of two vessels with alleged stolen crude oil, and they were not burnt. I want to believe that there has been a change in that policy.
In June 2023, you were part of a team that launched a National Maritime Strategy, which is a policy document to guide the development of maritime in the nation. Is that document Nigeria’s maritime policy and what does it stipulate?
There were two committees that developed that maritime strategy. The Navy had one committee and the other committee was the Nigeria National Data Center (NODC). NODC is located at the Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) headquarters, in Lagos. What we launched has to do with Navy. The Nigerian Navy committee developed the strategy which was sent to NIMASA and we made input.
Nonetheless, at that time, that maritime strategy basically addressed issues when the present ministry was designated as Ministry of Transportation. Now, we have the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. So, that Maritime Strategy only means a segment of marine blue economy. From the retreat we had with the Honorable Minister, there is a plan to develop a different encompassing strategy for the marine and blue economy.
In a nutshell, what I’m saying is that even if we have the maritime strategy, it needs to be updated to be in consonance with the marine and blue economy ministry.
As an agency, what are NIMASA’s biggest goals for the year 2024?
The first thing on the list of NIMASA 2024 goals, is the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF), because that will go a long way to improve shipping in the country. The next top agenda is something we discussed earlier – the GHG emission and I have assured that we are addressing it.
We also want to create what we call Marine Protected Areas, which we don’t have in the country at the moment. This is a very important and we’re working hard to prepare the working document for the Ministry of Marine and Marine Economy to ensure that we designate our marine protected areas for the first time.
Other issues include the sustainability of maritime security within the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) region; commencement of the operations of NIMASA modular floating dock, which we hope to achieve before the end of first quarter 2024.
