More than 17 years after it was enacted by the National Assembly, maritime industry stakeholders are expressing shock that the lamented that Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act has not bettered the lots of Nigerian ship owners.
They lamented that contrary to the letters and intent of Cabotage Act of 2003, foreign ships still dominate coastal shipping.
The key players have also given reasons the Cabotage Act has failed to address the problem of foreign vessel dominance on Nigeria territorial waters.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) recently issued a three-month ultimatum to International Oil Companies (IOCs)engaged in Cabotage trade in Nigeria to register all vessels used in coastal and inland waters trade.
According to NIMASA, the requirement, is in addition to registration in the applicable Special Register for Cabotage Vessels and Ship Owning companies, and obtaining the Certificate of Cabotage Registration/License.
But, aggrieved stakeholders insisted that the failure of enforcement of the Cabotage Act has enabled the IOCs to flagrantly patronize unregistered foreign vessels owners trading illegally in the Nigerian territorial waters.
They however blamed the rickety state of Nigerian vessels, lack of effective enforcement and lack of disbursement of the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund (CVFF) as some of the reason the IOCs have continued to patronize unregistered vessels.
In a chat with Shipping Position Daily, a ship owner and member of the Nigeria Indigenous Ship Owners Association (NISA), Taiwo Akinpelumi lamented that the IOCs flagrant disregard for the Cabotage law is as a result of non-effective enforcement on the part of NIMASA.
He called for detention of any foreign vessel that is trading illegally in the nation’s territorial waters. He urged NIMASA to rather issue a marine notice to that effect, rather than sending out warnings.
According to him, “there is no effective enforcement, also lack of CVFF did not allow fleet expansion; you know indigenous ship owners must repair and buy new ships”.
He told NIMASA that, “giving warnings to IOCs is not the way to go, I think the best thing is to issue marine notice, the Marine notice will carry the weight of law, marine notice is like policy pronouncement to say, henceforth no foreign vessel will fly our waters for Cabotage trade, so any foreign vessel that comes into Nigeria is coming on international trade, so any foreign vessel that comes on Cabotage trade should be detained and sanctions has to be melted out on such vessel owner”.
Akinpelumi noted that, “the Cabotage Act has not been fully tested, but the administration that just came in now is putting efforts to right the wrongs, we have been talking about the feasting of foreign vessels on our waters; they have taken over everything, they are the ones to decide which daughter vessel come alongside them, the warning is a step in right direction, but it's not enough to say no foreign vessel should come to Nigeria waters, we know that they can go through the back doors to float a local company here, where they will use a Nigerian to front, maybe they will give the Nigerian 1% share, so we must interrogate the Cabotage Act very well which says Nigeria equity should not be less than 60%, so all these things are what NIMASA has to tighten for the Cabotage law to be effective, so that the job could be exclusive reserve of the indigenous operators”.
Speaking also, a maritime lawyer; Osuala Emma Nwagbara blamed the rickety state of Nigeria vessels as the major reason the IOCs engage unregistered vessels; he said many of the Cabotage vessels are not fit and suitable for business which may have led to the increase in the numbers of unregistered vessels in the nation’s territorial waters.
He said: “I really don't think it's the failure of the Cabotage Act that makes IOCs patronize unregistered vessels, I think many of the registered vessels are not fit for business of Cabotage in Nigeria and where they don't find fit and suitable vessels, then they make do with what they have and that is, unregistered vessels
“So, if vessels that are fit and suitable and available and registered on the special register of ship registry to do Cabotage trading, I don't see why IOCs will patronise unregistered vessels”.
Nwagbara however urged NIMASA to rather enforce sanctions and punishment of the Cabotage law instead of sending out warnings.
“In the first instance, an unregistered vessels that participate in Cabotage trading is trading illegally, so NIMASA doesn’t need to send out that warning , NIMASA just have to enforce the provisions of the Cabotage Act against such unregistered vessels, because in the Cabotage Act, you will find penalty under section 22 that states the type of vessels that must register and if you find such a vessel not registered, it contravenes the provisions of the Cabotage Act and there are provisions that empowers NIMASA to apply punishment and sanctions, NIMASA is just being magnanimous in warning IOC to desist from patronising unregistered vessels”, he said.
On his part the Chairman of the Ship Registry Committee, Emmanuel Ilori accused NIMASA of being the one granting waiver to unregistered vessels before now he however said implementing the new warning issued to the IOCs will help the Cabotage law.
“NIMASA have been the one giving the waivers, so if they say no more waiver, NIMASA is the one that has the power and otherwise, so if they say they are not going to allow, then they have the powers to do it, so let's see how far they will go, we've been talking and everybody is tired of talking, so if they can implement it fine, because nobody goes on the waters without NIMASA saying so, so let's see how far they will go”, he said.
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