• Begins Removal Of Ships
• As Minister Orders Stoppage Of Wrecks Removal
Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Temisan Omatseye has lamented that the long process of adjudication among parties to shipping businesses in Nigeria is largely responsible for the high number of ships that are abandoned on Nigerian waters and which often constitute impediments to safe navigation.
Omatseye told participants at an international conference on maritime arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) within the West and Central Africa that the time consuming process of adjudication often makes these ships to stay for too long on Nigerian waters.
“Vessels are being arrested by the Admiralty courts by virtue of ship owners and agents to disputes; this has led to our waters being infested by abandoned vessels. What naturally happens is that the naval forces arrest vessels, the vessels are left and due to the long nature of arbitration or adjudication the vessels have become a constant danger to our waters”, he explained.
The NIMASA chief executive’s observation however coincided with an order by the minister of transport, Alhaji Suleiman Yusuf that all current efforts that are geared towards removal of all derelicts and wrecks should be stopped by the respective agencies under the ministries.
The minister told executives of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) that the Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety agency as well as a ministerial committee on wrecks removal which was constituted by his predecessor, Alhaji Ibrahim Bio were duplicating efforts.
The new minister told the journalists who were on a courtesy visit to his office last week in Abuja that he was not satisfied with on-going works on removal of wrecks and that he had directed that every agency involved in such activities should suspend operations until further notice.
Pointing out that that there are different types of wrecks on the nation’s waterways and channels and insisting that not all wrecks are removable, the minister added that the ministry would soon come out with a policy on wrecks removal and also identify which of the agencies will be responsible for the removal of the wrecks and the type to be removed.
But the director general of NIMASA told delegates who came from across West and Central Africa as well as members of the bar and the bench in Nigeria and representatives of international associations responsible for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution that Nigeria is losing enormous revenue when ships in litigation are kept on her waters for a long period and when such vessels eventually become wrecks and have to be removed.
“We are faced with a situation whereby we have to remove wrecks from our waters which are running into millions of dollars, the money which we are using to remove wrecks and abandoned vessels are money which we can use to develop our maritime industry”, he lamented, even as he disclosed that henceforth, NIMASA will insist that oil companies and all users and providers of shipping services within Nigeria must include clauses of arbitration in their contracts of carriage.
He acknowledged that courts are already burdened by civil litigations; hence maritime disputes must not compulsorily be taken to the court of law.
Omatseye however advocated the use of indemnity to release any vessel while the case or arbitration goes on, so that shipping business is not adversely affected.
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