Unknown to many, what has now become an annual ritual of celebrating the world’s seafarers actually started in 2o10. It was in that year that the Diplomatic Conference which met in Manila to adopt milestone revisions to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention) and its associated Code, also agreed that the unique contribution made by seafarers from all over the world to international seaborne trade, the world economy and civil society as a whole, should be marked annually with a ‘Day of the Seafarer’. The date chosen was June25 of every year, the day on which the amendments were formally adopted.
The objectives of the day include increasing awareness among the general public of the indispensable services you render to international seaborne trade, the world economy and society at large. It’s also meant as a day to send a clear message to all seafarers that they are recognised and appreciated; that the world understands the extraordinary conditions and circumstances of seafaring, that the world cares about them and that they will be protected whenever the circumstances of life at sea so warrant.
The World Seafarers’ Day is also set aside as a day to redouble efforts at the regulatory level to create a better, safer and more secure world for the professionals.
And back to Nigeria, where the day has also enjoyed prominence. We say that, irrespective of their current rating within the nation’s maritime sector, Nigerian seafarers are arguably an important stakeholder. One can hardly forget how hot and respectable it was to be a seafarer up till the mid- 1990s; that was before the liquidation of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).
The average age of the youngest master mariner and marine engineer in the country today is about 55 years, while there are thousands of lower cadre seafarers, few of whom are gainfully employed.
A lot of people have blamed the current travail of the Nigerian seafarer on government and by extension, NIMASA, which is the implementing agency for maritime labour. Without mincing words, NIMASA has not done well enough to boost the marketability of emerging seafarers, this it would have done by ensuring that the Maritime Academy of Nigeria in Oron, Akwa Ibom state is well funded, but rather than do this, it is at present funding the creation of maritime institutes in universities and also sending young Nigerians to foreign maritime academies for training in nautical sciences and marine engineering.
There are about 1.2 million seafarers in the world, and good enough, Nigerian seafarers make up a sizeable number of the lot.
Coming a few days after Nigeria commenced the implementation of MLC 2006, it is our hope that, the 2014 seafarers day celebrations will be the beginning of a new lease of life for Nigerian seafarers.
Popularly called “the seafarers bill of rights”, the MLC 2006, is expected to significantly impact on the fortunes of Nigerian seafarers. But can it?
In a country where thousands of seafarers are either unemployed or under employed, where the registry is depleting by the day, one can hardly expect anything positive, beyond the euphoria of joining the number.
We recall sadly that the nation joined others to endorse the Seafarers Identity Document (SID) some years ago, without understanding the requirements from each signatory-nation. The SID that was commissioned with pump and glamour by the then-Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMALIC) has impacted significantly on the Nigerian maritime sector, largely because the nation’s seafaring population is depleted by unemployment.
So, we advise that rather than celebrate the ‘day’ as usual, the responsible agency should see the flag-off of the MLC as a wake-up call
The NIMASA should work more assiduously to make Nigeria a truly maritime nation, by enhancing the nation’s fleet, offer would-be seafarers qualitative cadet education and offer more jobs to the qualified ones.
It is a shame that Nigeria no longer parades world-class seafarers, she no longer owns ships. But even if we no longer own ships, the abundance of budding and qualified seafarers should propel government to guarantee safety and decent work condition for them; that is the intendment of the MLC2006 and that , in our opinion should be the essence of the ‘seafarers day’.
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