The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has harped on the need to galvanize support in order to rebuild fleet of ships for Nigeria, in order to compete favorably with the rest of the shipping world.
Executive Secretary of the Council; Barr. Hassan Bello gave this charge on Friday last week when he received new executives of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners led by its President, Capt. Ade Olopoenia.
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has harped on the need to galvanize support in order to rebuild fleet of ships for Nigeria, in order to compete favorably with the rest of the shipping world.
Executive Secretary of the Council; Barr. Hassan Bello gave this charge on Friday last week when he received new executives of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners led by its President, Capt. Ade Olopoenia.
Bello who acknowledged that one of the challenges facing the implementation of the Cabotage Law in Nigeria is the inability of Nigerians to own ships, also pointed out that until Nigeria begins to own vessels, it cannot be considered as a maritime nation.
The Shippers’ Council boss reminisced on the glorious days of the Nigeria National Shipping Line (NNSL) where master mariners were trained and worked aboard Nigerian-flagged vessels.
He condemned the fact that Nigeria's crude is still being freighted based on Free On Board (FOU) basis and disclosed that the Shippers’ Council had made this position known at the Presidential Retreat On Maritime Sector in Abuja.
The Council boss charged the master mariners to have a role to play is re-fleeting the country.
Speaking further, he said, "unless we have ships, we are just pretending that we are a maritime nation, forget about the cargo or coast line or the waterfront or ports"
"The council had made its presentation known at the Presidential retreat that Nigeria still carries its crude on FOB basis, it is bizarre and not done anywhere else", he told his visitors.
He charged the master mariners further to partner with the Council. "You have to partner with us more so that the contributions of the maritime industry to the economy will be practical"
"I will like to see your voice louder than it is in the vanguard of positioning the industry" he said
Speaking earlier, President of the National Association of Master Mariners (NAMMA); Capt. Ade Olopoenia pledged the support of the association to the council in its role as economic regulator of the ports.
He however pointed out that the association has not been playing active role in the Shippers’ Council’s annual seminar for judges, and demanded that the council make it possible for the master mariners to be more involved in the seminar.
He also told his host that, “we are looking forward to the NTC Bill getting a legal backing, though we heard you saying somewhere that you already have legal backing, but we will collaborate with you to achieve this task".
Discussion about this post