Shippers’ council, Navy partner to end sea piracy, other crimes

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Navy have agreed to partner to end piracy and other crimes on Nigerian territorial waters to improve ease of doing business at the country’s sea ports.

The commitment was made by the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Engr. Hassan Bello and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral, Ibok E. Ibas, when the former paid a visit to the naval chief in his office yesterday.

The visit, which was the first of its kind, was aimed at forging partnerships between both institutions that have critical roles to play in making Nigerian ports efficient and profitable.

Speaking to journalists at the sidelines of the visit, the ES NSC said the council, as an economic regulator of the ports, is worried about the profiling of Nigerian sea ports as highly dangerous to the point of insurers charging war premium on ships and cargo coming into the country.

He said the profiling made cargo coming into Nigeria very expensive, adding that NSC, the Nigerian Navy and other agencies will partner to end that narrative.

He also noted relative improvements in the security of Nigerian waters based on the robust interventions of the Navy.

“We are here to commend and compliment the efforts of the Nigerian Navy. So far we have reduced incidences on attacks on ships. We are trying to fashion out a harmonised strategy so we can even reduce the incidences at ports. We are going to have a committee made up of senior principal members of the Navy and Shippers Council to work out the details and see areas we will collaborate.

“One of the areas is information sharing. We need to take the information provided by the Navy into international fora like the Global Shippers Forum, IMO and other international organisations, so that they would know and appreciate the efforts that the Nigerian Navy has made for the protection of ships coming into Nigeria,” he explained.

Commenting, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibas, said the Nigerian Navy remains committed to improving security in the maritime space, adding that it has carried out a couple of measures and strategies that have yielded positive results.

“The navy rolled it score card and there is clear evidence that in the past three years the fortunes of the nation in maritime has been on the positive path, the policies have also contributed greatly in the reduction of piracy,” he said.