The Nigerian maritime waters on Sunday got additional improved security with the deployment of 14 enforcement and security boats commissioned by the President Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo in Lagos.
The boats according to the government formed part of the $195 million dollar deep blue projects undertaken by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on behalf of the federal government to increase the security around the country’s maritime territory and boost it capacity to meet global best practices.
The Minister also commissioned five new patrol and security boats, five refurbished search and rescue and pollution control boats, four staff ferries, the NIMASA search and rescue clinic, an administrative building and laid the foundations for a skill acquisition centre in Apapa.
Sambo noted “the completed projects are part of the government’s commitment for good governance and institutionalised policies for improved maritime safety and security enhancement on the nation’s waters as well as service delivery and economic development.”
He explained that aside boosting the image of the country internationally, they will enable the Nigeria to achieve and sustain safe, secure shipping, cleaner oceans and enhanced maritime capacity.
The state-of-the-art enforcement platforms he further affirmed will ensure strict compliance and adherence with the extant laws governing the operations of the nation’s maritime domain.
Speaking of the benefits to NIMASA, he said “the platforms will also give NIMASA the much-needed tools required to function as a maritime administrator in line with the protocols and conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) to which NIMASA represents Nigeria as its contracting government.”
Sambo added that the search and rescue clinics will enable the agency to fulfill its obligations to seafarers and the general public by providing top-notch medical care facilities, while the newly acquired communication gadgets will enable the agency’s enforcement as well as search and rescue operators communicate in real-time without any hindrance or interference while conducting their operations at sea.
On his part, Director Genera NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh affirmed that the inclusion of the security and patrol boats and the search and rescue and pollution control boats to the Deep Blue Project assets are particularly with intent to intensify the internal security of the waterways, taking into cognizance the recent proliferation of oil theft.
NIMASA he said take very strong notice of the damaging impact that piracy, kidnapping of seafarers, smuggling, illegal oil bunkering, robbery at sea and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing has had on the nation’s maritime profile.
According to DG, the sharp drop in incidence of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is a testament to the tremendous effort of the federal government in terms of provision of infrastructures, through the Deep Blue Project investment towards vessels, maritime domain awareness platforms, as well as land, air and sea assets.
Jamoh said “beyond the strides at overcoming maritime crime at the Gulf of Guinea, the management and safety of the nation’s inland waterways equally deserves attention.”
“NIMASA is committed to ensuring the waterways are safe for local transportation and other leisure activities so that more internal revenues are generated.”
“it is important to keep the inland waterways free of waste and pollutants to ensure they remain navigable in addition to keeping them secured from perpetrators of maritime crime,” the NIMASA helmsman said.
