Maritime experts have called for the establishment of a Maritime Security Fund to cater for security challenges in the industry.
The experts, in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that the annual budget seemed to be overwhelmed with other matters.
The Managing Director of Kizto Maritime Agency Ltd, Mr Tony Uzum, said that the industry was too large for the meagre budgetary allocation to cater for.
Messrs Ike Uche and Augustine Adoki, both of Ports Facility Officers Forum, said that with cutting edge security equipment, the nation’s waters would be secured.
“Our operatives lack the necessary equipment like patrol boats and training of personnel to handle such security equipment,’’ Uche said.
According to Adoki, the establishment of a functional Maritime Security Fund will cater for security equipment that are lacking.
He said that Nigeria should emulate other maritime nations which had established such proactive funds with a view to bringing an end to issues of insecurity in the system.
Adoki said that such fund should be raised from shippers and port users.
He said that the fund would best be managed with an assemblage of persons from both the private and public sectors.
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