Stakeholders Drum Support for Continuous Maintenance of Channels

Stakeholders in the maritime industry have drummed support for the continuous dredging and maintenance of the channels leading to Nigerian ports.

The stakeholders, Mr. Okonkwo Adiele and Chief Andrew Ogunleye argued that a mechanism needed to be put in place to ensure that there was no hitch in the navigation of vessels into the nation’s seaports.

The call is coming on the heels of the recognition of Nigeria as a maritime nation. Besides the fact that she is geographically endowed with 852 km of the Atlantic coastline along with 10,000 km of inland waterways about 30 per cent of which are seasonally navigable for passengers and freight transportation, Nigeria is recognised by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a port state and a flag administration represented by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

The experts who spoke to THISDAY at the weekend said NIMASA maintained a ship registry which registers and licenses vessels that fly the Nigerian flag.

They pointed out that Nigeria’s maritime assets comprise hydrocarbon fossil fuel and gas deposits in her exclusive economic zones which she explores and exploits to drive her economy for the past six decades aside the oil and gas installations and export terminals owned by government, indigenous and international oil companies whose values are worth billions of US dollars. Seaports with its terminal infrastructure and equipment also add a large chunk to Nigeria’s maritime asset base.

According to them, these assets, natural and man-made, provide the catalyst for shipping in Nigeria, even as they pointed out that the direct influence on shipping was rarely noticeable or acknowledged by the citizenry. For instance, oil and gas exports cannot take place without the presence of dedicated export terminals as obtainable in Escravos, Qua Iboe, Brass and Bonny.

They explained that it was from these terminals that very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and the ultra large crude carriers (ULCCs) load our crude oil and gas for delivery to overseas markets.

Continuing, Adiele said: “Maintenance dredging has to be constantly carried out on the terminals to keep these tankers and gas carriers afloat without incident. To ensure continuous maintenance dredging, the NPA in partnership with the private sector established the Lagos Channel Management Company (LCM) and the Bonny Channel Company (BCC).