The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has given a landmark Judgment which affirmed the power of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to detain vessels in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007.
In a unanimous Judgment on the appeal filed by NIMASA, the Appeal Court reversed the earlier judgment of the Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court which awarded N6.8b against NIMASA in favour of Hensmor Nigeria Limited.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has given a landmark Judgment which affirmed the power of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to detain vessels in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007.
In a unanimous Judgment on the appeal filed by NIMASA, the Appeal Court reversed the earlier judgment of the Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court which awarded N6.8b against NIMASA in favour of Hensmor Nigeria Limited.
In the lead Judgment, read by Hon. Justice Chinwe Iyizoba JCA and supported by Justices Sidi Bage JCA and Rita Pemu JCA, the Court of Appeal agreed with the arguments of the counsel to NIMASA, Mr. Louis Mbanefo, SAN, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN and Dr Fabian Ajogwu, SAN and allowed the Appeal on the ground that there was no credible evidence upon which judgment was entered in favour of Hensmor Nigeria Limited by the lower court. The Respondent was represented by Mr. Kola Awodein, SAN.
The Appeal Court also held that MT Agbomien, the vessel that was the subject matter of the suit, was unseaworthy going by the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 and was therefore justifiably detained.
On the claim of $7,000 per day by the defendant as cost of hire of the vessel, the court held that the claim was unsubstantiated. The documents of the charter which ought to have been pleaded and tendered to prove the item of loss was not done.
The Appeal Court also held that the Hensmor’s basis of arriving at $25 million as the estimated value of the vessel MT Agbomien was not even placed before the lower court to enable it determine if that was a fair and credible estimate before making the award.
The Appellate Court also noted that the respondent failed to plead full particulars of the various heads of damages claimed and also failed to strictly prove them,and accordingly held that the awards by the lower court could not stand.
In affirming the regulatory power of NIMASA to detain vessels in accordance with the Merchant Shipping Act 2007, the Appeal Court ruling has re-echoed the international nature of shipping and hence the need for uniform compliance in global maritime safety practices as adopted and implemented in Nigeria by NIMASA.
It will be recalled that Hensmor Nigeria Limited had approached the Federal High Court alleging that its vessel, MT Agbomien was illegally detained by NIMASA, arguing that although Hensmor’s certificate of seaworthiness had expired, the vessel was nonetheless seaworthy. It then claimed that the detention by NIMASA was unlawful.
In its statement of defence, NIMASA stated that its Harbour Master called to inform the Agency that MT Agbomien was not seaworthy, and that as an agency responsible by statute for the safety of shipping and navigation, the vessel in question was inspected and it was discovered, among other things, that the sea worthiness certificate of the ship had expired since 2005. NIMASA said that the ship was promptly detained pending the time all the defects would be rectified.
The Appeal Court affirmed the powers of NIMASA to enforce the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act which included the power to detain vessels that are unseaworthy and whose certificates have expired. The Court reversed the judgment of the Federal High Court which had granted approximately N7billion in damages against NIMASA.
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