By Joshua Yousouph
The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) has raised concerns over the controversial Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), even as it has raised an alarm that indigenous shipowners will waste the fund on other investments other than shipbuilding and acquisition.
This is even as the group noted that the accruals in the CVFF is too small to acquire state-of-the-art ships.
Speaking exclusively to Shipping Position Daily last week, the Chairman of ICS, Dr Chris Ebare noted that if the $350m CVFF accruals are disbursed to ship owners, they will be forced to invest the fund in other business ventures, because there are no meaningful vessels to purchase in the international market with that amount.
Giving further details, Dr Ebare noted that currently, a good state-of-the-art vessel in the international market is worth over $1bn.
The ICS Chairman specifically urged the Federal Government to publish the names of stakeholders entitled to the CVFF, stressing that the funds should not be disbursed to ship owners without consulting the chartered shipbrokers. He informed that as shipping experts the ICS are expected to regulate the disbursement while serving as an advisor to NIMASA which is the supervising agency.
Dr. Ebare who is also a maritime lawyer, stressed that the maritime industry had misused a golden opportunity by not allowing Nigerdock to co-exist with NIMASA, adding that Nigerdock would have started producing vessels by now. He advised the Federal Government to invest more in the training of skilled Nigerian youths in shipbuilding. He assured that within four years, these internationally trained youths will build modern ships in Nigeria.
In his words: “If you give them (ship owners) that money, they will waste it. First and foremost, let them publish the names of the stakeholders that are entitled to the money. That is how other countries operate. If they give any ship-owner the $350m, the first thing they will think of is investment because there are no meaningful vessels you can buy with that amount. They will think of converting it to Naira because Naira conversion will be high. That is why we see the hullabaloo we have today.
“Most importantly, the funds should not be disbursed to ship owners without consulting us. The Institute of Chartered Ship brokers are the ones supposed to regulate it. We have to be an advisors to NIMASA who is the supervising agency for the disbursement.
“The truth of the matter is that it is very unfortunate that we have misused the opportunity we have in the maritime industry of this country, by not still allowing the Nigerdock to coexist with NIMASA. If the Nigerdock had been there like that time they would have taken off and already started producing vessels. If you go to Niger delta, all those vessels used by those boys were produced by them. At the end, they will just put one engine and start using the vessel. Why not assemble these people to open the Nigerdock. Within four years they will be bringing out fantastic jobs. Send them on very good training in Greece or Cyprus. That is where the issue is”, Ebare concluded.
shippingposition
Kindly like us on Facebook/twitter
