The Nigeria Shipowners’ Association (NISA) is in plans to refloat the association’s moribund Shipping Line in other to benefit from the long-awaited disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF). This is even as the association banks on assurances of the government to make available the CVFF for its funding.
Recall that the association in 2021 had resolved to set up a national carrier with equity contributions from its members and also float a $500 million fund to serve as revolving loan to enable its members renew their vessel fleets.
Checks by Shipping Position Daily show that the proposed national carrier named ISAN Shipping Line was registered since 2008, and it is said to be owned by all the members of the association. The Steering Committee which was set up to revive the mandate of the association mapped out a seven-point agenda and one of it was to float $500 million maritime funds to acquire vessels and other assets.
However, speaking with Shipping Position Daily last week, the Chairman Board of Trustees of the association; Chief Isaac Jolapamo informed that there are plans by the association to join forces together as a group and approach the government for the release of a substantial amount of the CVFF.
Chief Jolapamo posited that getting five percent of the fund to revive the shipping development through the association’s shipping line is better than having 100 percent of nothing. He also added that NISA being the mother association of all indigenous shipowners is working on reconciling all Nigerian ship owners to maximize benefit from the CVFF.
“We have set the ball rolling. We are looking forward to having CVFF which is the beginning of everything we are talking about. The assurance that we have is that the fund will be disbursed. One of the areas we are looking at is that we join forces together and approach the government for the release of a substantial amount of this fund for a group to use. Five percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing and that is where we want to start from.
“We are working towards reconciling everybody. This is the mother association. Once the mother association is going to get her acts right, then we believe everything will work in place. We have to push the new executives to accomplish what they need to accomplish. Jolapomo said.
On his part, the Chairman of the CVFF Committee that was set up by NISA, Dr. Edward Sowho exclusively told our correspondent that the association is reactivating its moribund shipping line to move cargo such as crude oil, petroleum products and others from Nigeria to other countries.
Dr. Sowho stated that the association is planning to apply for the CVFF as a shipping line, adding that this arrangement does not stop other individual members from applying. He explained that members can apply for the fund as individuals or as Consortia with two or three people coming together.
“NISA had a shipping line before. We are only trying to reactivate it. The idea is not new. We had this idea of floating a shipping line in order to move products such as crude oil, petroleum products and others from Nigeria abroad. What we are planning to do is to apply as a shipping line. Individuals can also apply but this is the association’s own shipping line. This is not just being incorporated because of the CVFF.
“The company has been there. It was just that it was moribund. Now we are reactivating it, so that when we are applying as an association we would use that shipping line to apply. But then, individual members can also apply for the CVFF as individuals or as consortia, that is, two or three people coming together to apply. So it doesn’t disturb anybody” Sowho noted.
Also speaking, the President-elect of the association; Otunba Sola Adewumi during his acceptance speech informed that there are assurances from government agencies that are ready to assist the association in ensuring that it benefits maximally from the CVFF through the NISA shipping line.
In his words: “We want to use the NISA shipping line to access CVFF so that we can do it collectively. We might have the capacity to do it individually. We believe that with the NISA shipping line we can come together and put our resources together, so that we can have the first option of accessing the fund. We have assurances from government agencies that are going to assist us in this respect” Adewumi stressed.
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