Revised cabotage Law to be signed soon – Jamoh

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh has expressed delight at the opportunity to share knowledge on Cabotage implementation with officials of the Ghanaian Maritime Authority (GMA), saying that it will enhance regional collaboration.

Jamoh also said sharing information on Cabotage regime with countries in the sun region would have a multiplier effect of increasing local participation in the regional maritime industry.

“As a regulatory and enforcement agency, we are committed to ensuring that our core mandates are accomplished in such a manner that will provoke economic development for Nigeria, while growing indigenous capacity in line with international best practices.

Since the advent of the Cabotage Act in Nigeria, about 68 percent of vessels trading within the country’s maritime space are now Nigerian-flagged. We have also made progress in the area of placement of Nigerian seafarers on board Cabotage vessels, as well as building vessels from the keel, particularly smaller crafts.

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He also spoke about the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) introduced to offer financial assistance to operators, stating that the fund is obtained through the collection of a 2% surcharge from the total contract sum performed by any vessel engaged in Cabotagetrade. Jamoh expressed optimism that the amended Cabotage Act will be signed into law very soon.

In his welcome address earlier, the Executive Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services, NIMASA, Engr. Victor Ochei observed that Nigeria’s Cabotage achievements did not come without pitfalls and struggles that were surmounted through consistency.

“Our achievements, processes, knowledge acquired and experience are what we will be sharing with you within this short period of time. Luckily, you will be gaining these set of skills without the inclusion of the pitfalls we had to learn from to attain our current level.”

“In the course of this under-study, we intend to chronologically take you on a historical sojourn and enlighten you on our famous “4 Pillars of Cabotage”. We shall put you through the enabling legislations and instruments that empower us to operate as well as our enforcement procedures amongst others,” Ochei said.