Determined to ensure sea time for our teaming cadets, a frontline master mariner, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, has called for cooperation with ship owners to reserve slots on board their vessels for Nigerian seafarers.
Iheanacho made the appeal in an interview with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week.
He also called on Nigeria to rationalize her training institutions, stressing that there is need to realize that training curriculum in the institution involves time spent both in the institution and on sea.
He also maintained that one of the ways through which seatime can be sought is to insist that, for any ship coming into the country, a slot should be made for Nigerians to serve on board such ships.
“Platforms for service could actually be very easily arranged because a lot of people trade vessel to Nigeria. The government can say that, it is alright if you want to trade to our country you must give us some slots on your ship so that our people can serve there. So that on any ships that comes , every company that has a regular ship here we have Nigerians who work on those ships”.
Iheanacho however said that there is a difference between navigational vessels that served the need of an institution, which goes out for one day run and comes back and the requirement to actually acquire sea time on a foreign going ship.
“Different types of ships on tanker vessels, general cargo container ships, we really need to have a well thought- out programmes of cooperation with most of these ship owners, so that they will reserve training baths on board their ships for Nigerians”
Reacting to the story that Nigerian seafarers are half-baked, the former minister of interior, said that it is not in all cases, saying that there are still a quite number of Nigerian seafarers who are very professional.
“Well it is not in all cases; yes there are quite a number of people who surprise me, seamen that I have seen who surprised me in terms of what they know and what they don’t know. But also on the other hand, there are quite a number of people who are very professional. So I don’t think it is something you can generalize about. But the bottom line is that we ought to rationalize our training institutions, we have MAN, Oron that is supposed to produce officers; seafaring officers. You have to realize that the training curriculum involves time spent in the institution and also sea time acquired on foreign going ships. I really like to emphasize it because people do not seem to be able to make a distinction between navigational vessels that served the need of an institution, so it goes out for one day run and comes back and the requirement to actually acquire sea time on a foreign going ship”.
Explaining further, he maintained that if Nigerian indigenous ship owners are empowered to operate foreign-going ships, then you have institutions to produce seafarers that need sea time.
“All of these things go hand-in-hand; if you empower Nigerians to operate foreign going ships then you have institutions to produce seafarers that need sea time. Then, those Nigerians with those ships can actually provide that service and so I think it is something we really have to think about”
According to him, “There is a good opportunity for us, we trained a lot of people but all those training seems to come to nuts when they come back and say they are looking for ships to serve on and there seems to be little or no provision or any thought going into how these people would further their career through further trainings and service on board ships”
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