The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) has presented a branded Nigerian ship registry to the global maritime community in a bold move that is aimed at making Nigeria a flag of choice by ship owners.
The fully revised package was presented by the agency’s director general, Dr Ade Dosunmu at the recently-concluded ship registration conference which held at the prestigious Lloyds Maritime Academy in London.
Addressing the conference, the NIMASA chief executive officer expressed the commitment of Nigeria to sustaining the integrity of Ships flying her Flag by ensuring that they comply with all conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), especially in the areas of safety, security, and environmental protection.
Dr Dosunmu seized the opportunity to announce a bouquet of incentives to for prospective ship owners who wish to embrace Nigerian flags. These include: block registration discount scheme, choice of six Classification Societies, and waiver of share capital requirements for sister ships, amongst others.
According to him, the restructured Nigerian ship registry entails decentralization of the operations of the registry, on-line process and bilateral human capacity development programmes.
In the presentation titled “Reform Legislation and an improved Ship Registry”, Dr. Dosunmu unfolded to the elite gathering the various opportunities in the Nigerian maritime sector and invited them to partner with NIMASA to translate these opportunities into reality.
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“There is a virtual sea of opportunities yet to be actualized in Nigerian maritime sector, we in Nigeria have recognized the importance of a globally recognized and respected ship registry to the actualization of this aspiration. We invite you to partner with us to turn this dream into a reality”, he stated.
While declaring that Nigerian Ship Registration office now carry out registration within 72 hours, the NIMASA helmsman also stated that a total of 206,999.12 Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) was added to Nigerian carriage capacity by newly registered Vessels since 2007.
He urged the global players in the maritime industry to take advantage of the new improved registry and the incentives.
In his address, the chairman of the conference, Malcolm Strong of Ince &Co advised registries aspiring to attain International recognition to ensure that technical standards are maintained and International Regulations enforced in their territorial waters. He also described an improved ship registry as a source of invisible income for countries such as Nigeria.
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