In a bid to have a world-class Ship Registry and enhance the Ease of
Doing Business in the maritime sector, the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has concluded plans to set up
an automated ship registration process through online and electronic
procedure.
The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, stated this
recently in Lagos at an interactive session with shipowners.
The forum discussed how to improve the quality of the Nigerian Ship
Register, with stakeholders promising to support the initiative. They
specifically pledged to fund the ship registration automation process.
Dakuku told the stakeholders that the Agency had acquired software
licence for the automation of the Nigerian Ship Registry, which is rated
by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as the second largest
in Africa, by tonnage, after Liberia, and 46th in the world. He said
automation was the only way to boost the worth of the registry and
quicken business processes.
According to the DG, “Our principal aim is to achieve online electronic
registration, accept electronic copies of documents and issue electronic
certificates. Our goal as a Maritime Safety Administration is to create
a world class Ship Registry, which will be attractive to shipowners with
the aim of maintaining the influence of Nigeria in evolving
international commercial and regulatory environment for shipping.”
Dakuku disclosed that in 2018 and 2019, the Nigerian registry attracted
two high index capacity vessels – Egina FPSO and MT Ultimate. He said
NIMASA was confident that a lot more could be done to assist Nigerians
in acquiring vessels, hence its intensified effort to ensure the
disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF). He stated
that the Agency was in partnership with the Nigerian Content Development
and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to drive capacity in the maritime industry.
The Director-General also highlighted the effort the Agency had made to
secure an internationally competitive ship registry for the country,
which include auditing the register of Nigerian vessels, redesigning and
producing new ship registry certificates, and automation of the ship
registry. Others are upgrade of the ship registry filing facility,
review of ship registration guidelines, and ISO 9001: 2015
Certification.
Dakuku noted that some of the biggest ship registries in the world, such
as the UK Ship Register, currently maintained a second or international
register to attract tonnage, while using the closed register to develop
indigenous capacity. To that end, he said the Agency was considering
establishing a second register to help grow Nigerian fleet and enhance
the country’s role in international commercial trade.
The DG called on stakeholders to assist the Agency’s new computerisation
initiative. “Our esteemed stakeholders, whilst keeping our eyes firmly
fixed on the objective of building a world class Ship Registry, we hope
to rely on your guidance, experience, industry know-how and cooperation
to endow the desperately needed credence and international respect for
the Nigerian Flag,” he stated.
In his presentation on background and development of ship registration,
a governing council member of the Nigerian Content Development &
Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Mr. Mina Oforiokuma noted that technically,
Nigeria’s registry was the largest in Africa. Oforiokuma said this was
based on the fact that Liberia operated an open registry, domiciled in
the United States of America. More so, most of the vessels registered in
Nigeria trade in Africa, he stated.
Speaking also, the Chairman of the Ship Registry Committee, Engr.
Emmanuel Ilori, urged NIMASA to set clear timelines for the
administrative process of ship registration and put in place precise
change in flag instructions.
Ilori advised the Agency to ensure that qualified tonnage measures were
employed to serve in the safety department. He commended NIMASA’s drive
to enshrine full automation of all ship registration processes,
revealing that it is one of the recommendations of the Ship Registry
Review Committee.
The high-point of the event was the unveiling of the new high-tech ship
registration certificates, which comes in various categories namely;
Certificate of Nigeria Registry; Certificate of Nigeria Registry
(provisional); Nigeria Certificate of Registry (Fishing Vessel); Nigeria
Certificate of Registry (Fishing Vessel Provisional). Others are Nigeria
Certificate of Registry (Bare Boar Charter Vessel) and Certificate of
Nigeria Ship Registry (Cabotage).
The present management of NIMASA began the drive to restructure the
Nigerian Ship Registry by inaugurating a Committee on the Review of the
Activities and Operations of the Nigerian Ship Registration Office on
February 27, 2018. The committee headed by Engr. Emmanuel Ilori was
given the task to examine the status of the Ship Registry in line with
international best standards and recommend requisite improvement
measures.
The committee submitted its report in 2019 with far reaching
recommendations grouped into short, medium and long term measures. The
submission of the report was followed by the inauguration of an
Implementation Monitoring Committee on August 20, 2019 to chart a course
for the implementation of the recommendations.