For the umpteenth time Indigenous Ship owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to provide the enabling environment in the maritime sector for private operators to thrive.
The General Secretary of ISAN, Capt. Niyi Labinjo made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that government should try to allow private operators to take over some of the major businesses in the shipping sector.
For the umpteenth time Indigenous Ship owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) yesterday appealed to the Federal Government to provide the enabling environment in the maritime sector for private operators to thrive.
The General Secretary of ISAN, Capt. Niyi Labinjo made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
He said that government should try to allow private operators to take over some of the major businesses in the shipping sector.
“Look at what happened to the National Shipping Line. Obasanjo bought those 19 ships new, but they did not last 10 years and government went to establish the National Unity Line, which later collapsed,’’ he said.
Labinjo recalled the Brazilian experience and said that the local governments in Brazil established shipyards and employed about 2, 000 people as far back as 1999.
The ship owner recalled that the local governments in Brazil also employed as many as 6,000 people in 2012.
Labinjo said that the Brazilian government was able to achieve the successes because the maritime aspect of its local content policy was rigidly followed.
He explained that Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) had probably yet to have a full grasp of how to run the maritime aspect of the local content Act.
Labinjo said that Nigerians were doing well in engineering, maritime and some related professions.
He said that out of the 600 vessels operating in Nigerian territorial waters, as offshore support vessels, less than 60 of the ships belonged to Nigerians.
The ship owner urged government to provide a level playing ground for indigenous participation in the maritime sector.
He suggested that government should compel the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to grant ISAN the “National Carrier’’ status as provided in the NIMASA Act.
He said that since 2007, the ISAN mega-shipping company idea had been on, noting, however, that the national carrier status would be required to enable the association transport cargoes.
“We hope that this year, we will be given the national carrier status.
“We have satisfied all the conditions since last year.
“Given our volume of maritime trade, we need a national carrier and not one that would be run by government,’’ he stressed.
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