Recently, about 16 ships were reported to have been washed ashore in Lagos during a squall, in what the director general, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Temisan Omatseye described as rough sea and strong winds which forced the ships to drift from the Lagos anchorage into light house beach spread over five nautical miles.
According to Omatseye, 10 of the ships were forced to the beach side, while six others were moved by the storm to the Lekki area of Lagos.
Giving more details about the accident, the NIMASA boss gave the identities of some of the ships as: Hollgan Star, a coastal tanker, Arcturus No. 3, an LPG tanker, Sunshine also an LPG tanker, Penil, a coastal tanker whose hull is heavily covered with marine growth, Odyssey (ex Whitkirk), a coastal tanker, F.K Badmus also a coastal vessel which was found flat on keel with its bow facing the beach, Ella L, a coastal vessel found sitting on top of another older wreck which had been in the same position earlier and an unidentified coastal tanker.
Experts say that what happened was not just a storm as NIMASA would want Nigerians to believe. They say that in shipping and navigation, what happened in Lagos on February 14, 2010 is more like a squall. A squall is a sudden, strong and violent wind which occurs during rain or snow storms. A squall also occurs within a reasonable kilometre radius, but often leaves heavy devastation on its trail.
Some of these ships belong to indigenous ship owners in Nigeria, while the ownership of others is yet to be confirmed even weeks after the February 14, 2010 natural disaster.
Similarly, the wrecks (which the ships have become) are still noticeable, He explained that they have concluded arrangement to move in heavy equipment from Port Harcourt to clear the wrecks from the beach side in four weeks.
Since the accident, it has attracted different comments and reactions, while blames have also started flying around. Specifically, NIMASA has classified some of the affected ships as unseaworthy and abandoned by their ‘unknown’ owners. On its part, Indigenous Ship owners have accused NIMASA of incompetence in its operations because, according to the association’s chairman, Chief Isaac Jolapamo, in other maritime administrations, there would have been a long enough notice that a disaster of that magnitude was on its way. He accused the maritime safety agency of failing to alert ships and that even when the squall started, all distress calls that were sent to NIMASA through the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) were unanswered.
On its part, NIMASA acknowledged that the agency had no records of most of the ships that were at anchorage and this probably explains why the ownership of some of the affected ships could not be ascertained; even by NIMASA.
Perhaps, the most instructive confirmation of that is the fact that NIMASA had over the years watched helplessly as foreign ships creep into Nigerian waters, wait at anchorage, do illegal businesses (including illegal bunkering and Cabotage operations) and sail off only to wait for another opportunity to sail in, commit illegalities and come back. Sadly, hundreds of ships are always anchored; especially outside Lagos breakwaters, awaiting such illegal brisk businesses. It is common story for seafarers to reveal how captains of such vessels operate like commercial buses awaiting passengers in a busy city like Lagos. The captains are always at alert and ready to sail off at the slightest inkling of danger.
Another worrisome revelation from the accident is the allegation that some of the affected ships had no crew on board and that if they had been on board, they would have taken more serious precautions to mitigate the devastation.
The affected ships appeared to have been abandoned as no efforts have yet been made to re-float them. We call for caution, so that they don’t add to the growing number of wrecks, derelicts and abandoned ships which dot Nigerian waters.
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