Ahead Of Expected Calls At Port By Bigger Vessels:

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has reaffirmed its total commitment to the improvement of the marine services the agency offers to its stakeholders and ports users.
 
To this effect, it has established a Maritime Safety Centre, (MSC) designed to provide an on-the- job continuous training to all categories of its marine officers at all levels. The centre will also have a simulator.
 

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has reaffirmed its total commitment to the improvement of the marine services the agency offers to its stakeholders and ports users.
 
To this effect, it has established a Maritime Safety Centre, (MSC) designed to provide an on-the- job continuous training to all categories of its marine officers at all levels. The centre will also have a simulator.
 
To demonstrate its commitment to the success of the centre, the NPA management team, led by Managing Director, Malam Habib Abdullahi yesterday paid an unscheduled visit to the site located at the NPA Dockyard premises in Apapa.
 
The Managing Director said during the visit, that work would soon commence with the first phase to install a Full Bridge Navigation Simulator, adding that once this is operational, then work would continue with the phased development of the Centre to fully cover other aspects of continuous training for NPA’s marine officers.
 
The navigation simulator will allow NPA pilots and tug-masters to gain regular refresher training in line with requirements of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
 
The navigation simulator facility will also allow the pilots to plan and practice calls to Nigeria by the current trend of larger ships.  For example, the recent trial calls at Onne  port of the container ship Maersk Copenhagen, at 249-metre long.
 
Additionally, NPA pilots used navigation simulation to develop the plan and to practice manoeuvres for the visit in December last year, which proved successful and will now result in weekly visits by these larger vessels to Apapa, Tin Can and Onne Ports, commencing in May.
 
The project is being anchored by the Business Development and Joint Venture Division of the Authority in conjunction with the Authority’s joint venture partners.