Former President, Nigerian Merchant Navy Senior Staff and Water Transport Officers Association Captain; Thomas Kemewerigha has said the services that are being rendered by ship chandlers are supposed to be regulated by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and not the Nigeria Customs Service.
Ship chandlers are agents that supply crews on board international and local vessels with food, water and other sundry needs; they are currently regulated and licensed by the Nigerian Customs Service.
Former President, Nigerian Merchant Navy Senior Staff and Water Transport Officers Association Captain; Thomas Kemewerigha has said the services that are being rendered by ship chandlers are supposed to be regulated by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and not the Nigeria Customs Service.
Ship chandlers are agents that supply crews on board international and local vessels with food, water and other sundry needs; they are currently regulated and licensed by the Nigerian Customs Service.
According to Kemewerigha, Customs lacks the knowledge about crew aboard a ship and other safety measures onboard, adding that the levy paid by the chandlers are supposed to go to the right agency that understands manning of vessel.
He said that the apex regulatory agency is the custodian of all maritime activities within the nation’s maritime domain.
"Ship chandling is an international instrument and NIMASA is the custodian of all maritime activities in this country", he argued.
"Ship chandling is part and parcel of vessel management, which the MLC clarifies straight forward and it is one of the pivotal points of the MLC to better the welfare of seafarers also since NIMASA is solely in charge of implementing the MLC in this country, no other body has the right to issue licenses to ship chandling agents, he stated.
According to him, if the NIMASA takes charge of chandlers, the agency will be able know accredited licensed ship chandlers, thus it will be able to monitor abnormal activities between the crew members and the ship chandlers in terms of supply.
"We want people who know their onion to be where they are supposed to be, the laws states that NIMASA should be in charge and why the Customs?”
He however called on the government to correct the anomalies and direct NIMASA to take over the responsibility and control of ship chandlers because whenever issues that affect crew members on board, the customs are not found to take responsibilities, rather it is still NIMASA that handles such issues.
"If in the past, Customs was in charge and today we are saying no it is not supposed to the Customs and as unions ,the workforce are our members and we work with NIMASA in terms of our welfare and up-keep, so the food they eat is involved".
"And if there is problem the customs will not come out, but if NIMASA is given that chance, it will be able know which ship chandler is with which shipping companies that supply food, so once there is any problem in any vessel they can swing into action”, he added.
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