Global West’s 25 patrol vessels still with EFCC — NIMASA DG

The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has said that 25 off-shore patrol vessels purchased on behalf of the agency by Global West Vessels Specialist Nigeria Limited (GWVSL) for the patrol of the nation’s waterways is still in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The Federal Government had in 2013 entered into an agreement with Global West to supply patrol boats for policing the entire stretch of Nigeria’s coastline, from Calabar to Lagos.

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The initial investment of the joint venture as at that time stood at $103,400,000.00, which was about N16bn, and part of the ship purchases then by Global West was a decommissioned Norwagian warship which sparked off controversy.

The NIMASA DG who spoke for the first time about the agency’s contract with Global West said, “EFCC moved in to investigate some of the allegations and as a result, 25 vessels under the NIMASA-GWVSL contract were taken over by EFCC. The ships are still under the custody of the EFCC and have since been anchored at the Dock Yard in Lagos.”

He, however, assured that the agency, with the support of the Federal Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Nigerian Navy, was addressing the challenge posed by the scarcity of patrol vessels under its Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also called Deep Blue Project.

He noted that the agency and other partners had already taken delivery of two Special Mission Vessels under Deep Blue Project, and that the vessels, which arrived the country earlier in the year, were equipped with sophisticated intelligence gathering capability for timely detection and response to illegal activities within Nigeria’s maritime domain.

Also received are 17 fast intervention vessels, six Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), while the first two special mission aircraft and first unmanned aerial vehicle are expected to arrive in the country before the end of August.