shippingposition
  • Home
  • News
  • Editorial
    • Vox Pop
  • Maritime safety
  • Oil and Gas
  • Personality
  • Health
No Result
View All Result
shippingposition

Home » ANXIETY AS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RECEIVES NEW MARITIME SECURITY AGENCY BILL

ANXIETY AS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY RECEIVES NEW MARITIME SECURITY AGENCY BILL

by Ade
November 1, 2009
in Uncategorized

• Bill proposes additional levy on shipping companies
• New agency to take over SOLAS function from NIMASA
       

Exactly three weeks after Shipping Position Weekly hinted on plans by the Presidency to resuscitate the moribund Presidential Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (PICOMSS), President Umar Yar Adua has sent a bill to the National Assembly seeking for the establishment of another maritime safety administration agency.
Shipping Position Weekly confirmed last week that the proposed Maritime Security Agency Establishment Bill which seeks to create a post-amnesty agency that will largely take over the responsibilities of NIMASA as a maritime safety administration agency has finally been received by the National Assembly.
Specifically, the new agency is expected to perform search and rescue functions , monitor  and regulate activities of ships and shipping operations and also have exclusive responsibility for Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS); a convention of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). It will also maintain a database on maritime activities.
To perform these roles, the proposed agency is expected to draw its finances from a 1 percent levy to be imposed on all in-bound and out-bound ships.
Surprisingly, the board of the proposed agency has no provision for membership from the maritime sector.
Sipping Position Weekly learnt exclusively last week that while majority of its members will be drawn from oil and gas sector as well as the office of National Security Adviser. The ministry of transport is expected to be represented by one person.     
 Shipping Position Weekly had scooped recently that the proposed agency is expected to have wide ranging powers, including superintending coastguard officials. The agency will have powers to inspect ships, arrest suspects and carry firearms within the Niger Delta region.

The proposed maritime security agency is also expected to provide security information on oil and gas pipelines, rigs, platforms and all other established installations.
If allowed to scale through, the agency will be a resurrection of the moribund Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security (PICOMSS).

PICOMSS was a child of circumstances which was born in 2004 on account of the desperation by Nigeria to meet the dictates of the International Ships and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
The Presidency at that time created PICOMSS as an ad- hoc multi – agency body to ensure that Nigeria beat the deadline and met the requirements. Its secretariat was at the ministry of transport. The agency achieved this and it was able to convince former president Olusegun Obasanjo to allow it to continue as a monitoring agency.
By 2006, PICOMSS’ secretariat was moved from the ministry of transport to the presidency where it has remained ever since.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Maritime Industry Advocacy Initiative (MAIN) has tasked all maritime industry stakeholders to rise up to challenge the move to render NIMASA useless in the performance of its statutory responsibilities as the nation’s maritime safety administration agency by pushing for the creation of another maritime security agency. 
The NGO said last week at a breakfast meeting with maritime journalists in Lagos that apart from eroding the relevance of NIMASA, the proposed law will also add to the cost of doing business in Nigeria ports. 
 “If allowed to see the light of the day, the proposed agency will largely encroach on NIMASA’s statutory responsibilities, while imposing additional financial burden on shipping companies”, the organisation pointed out.
Speaking through its executive director, Mr Sesan Onileimo, MAIN said:  We seize this opportunity to appeal to the National Assembly to kick against the move, not only because of NIMASA, but also because of the fact that the Senate is currently debating the general principles of a Coast Guard bill which was sponsored by the chairman, Senate committee on marine transport, Senator Gbemi Saraki”.

Harping on the need for maritime industry stakeholders to come together and collectively oppose the bill, the NGO stressed that the proposed law will adversely affect operators in the maritime industry.

“Before you know it, it may become a repetition of what happened when the now-defunct Joint Maritime Labour Industrial Council (JOMLAIC) Act was passed in 2004 without inputs and opposition from members of the shipping community especially NPA, which the law mandated  to part with 10 per cent of its earnings to fund JOMALIC. We therefore call on all well-meaning members of the maritime community to join the Maritime Industry Advocacy Initiative to raise a strong opposition to the proposed Maritime Security Agency”,   the group stressed.


Related Posts

VESSELS EXPECTED AT LAGOS PORT AS AT TUESDAY 10, MAY 2022

VESSELS EXPECTED AT LAGOS PORT AS AT TUESDAY 10, MAY 2022

May 10, 2022
VESSELS EXPECTED AT LAGOS PORT AS AT FRIDAY 29, APRIL 2022

VESSELS EXPECTED AT LAGOS PORT AS AT FRIDAY 29, APRIL 2022

April 29, 2022

‘Why I Pay More Attention To Rail Than Maritime Sector’- Rotimi Amaechi

September 27, 2021
ANLCA President Calls For Emergency On Reconstruction Of Roads Leading Into Apapa

ANLCA President Calls For Emergency On Reconstruction Of Roads Leading Into Apapa

May 15, 2021

Discussion about this post

Latest News

Navy Destroys 172 Illegal Refineries, Arrests 45 Suspects, Says Nigeria Exits ‘High Risk’ Piracy

Navy Destroys 172 Illegal Refineries, Arrests 45 Suspects, Says Nigeria Exits ‘High Risk’ Piracy

May 25, 2022

Navy Rescues 7 Victims From Kidnappers’ Hideout In Bayelsa

Marine Pollution Prevention Our Focus, IOPC Fund Implementation On Track – NIMASA

Oil Marketers Seek Investments In New Trucks

MAN, NAGAFF, Others Say Nigeria Not Prepared For AFCFTA

NIWA Decries Increased Boats’ Mishaps, Threatens Punitive Measures

Ethiopia Earns Over $458m Mining Exports Revenue In 9 Months

VESSELS EXPECTED AT LAGOS PORT AS AT WEDNESDAY 25, MAY 2022

6 Ships With Petrol, Other Items Waiting To Berth At Lagos Ports

NEPZA Trains 40 Personnel For Security Of Special Economic Zones

NNPC, Sahara Group Invest $300m In Two Gas Carriers

Women Will Be Given Equal Opportunities As Their Male Counterparts – Amaechi

kindly like our Facebook page

Health

Stay Away From Bush Meat To Prevent Monkeypox, NCDC Urges Nigerians
Health

Stay Away From Bush Meat To Prevent Monkeypox, NCDC Urges Nigerians

May 23, 2022

The Director-General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa has urged Nigerians to avoid bush meat as...

Stop Consuming Suya Roasted With Open Flames, Physician Tells Nigerians

Stop Consuming Suya Roasted With Open Flames, Physician Tells Nigerians

May 23, 2022
COVID-19, 40 Other Outbreaks Top Regional Diseases In 2021 – WAHO

COVID-19, 40 Other Outbreaks Top Regional Diseases In 2021 – WAHO

May 16, 2022
EU Relaxes Anti-COVID Measures, Drops Wearing Of Masks On Planes

EU Relaxes Anti-COVID Measures, Drops Wearing Of Masks On Planes

May 16, 2022
What You Need To Know About Monkeypox

What You Need To Know About Monkeypox

May 16, 2022
Sleep Duration Of 7 Hours Optimal For Elderly – Study

Sleep Duration Of 7 Hours Optimal For Elderly – Study

May 16, 2022
COVID-19 On Increase In Americas, Africa – WHO

COVID-19 On Increase In Americas, Africa – WHO

May 9, 2022
‘65 Per Cent Of Africa’s Population Survived COVID-19’

‘65 Per Cent Of Africa’s Population Survived COVID-19’

May 9, 2022
Seven Hours Of Sleep Ideal For Middle-Aged Persons – Study

Seven Hours Of Sleep Ideal For Middle-Aged Persons – Study

May 9, 2022
Some Things That Are Actually Damaging The Kidneys (2)

Some Things That Are Actually Damaging The Kidneys (2)

May 9, 2022

The World Of Vaccines, Before And After COVID

April 29, 2022

© 2021 Shippingposition

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Terms

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Coast To Coast
  • Oil and Gas
  • Maritime Education
  • The Terminals
  • Maritime safety

© 2021 Shippingposition