THE Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003, otherwise called the Cabotage Law, was designed to empower Nigerians to not only own vessels but develop capacity in various spheres of shipping, which for years have been dominated by foreign interests.

By the legislation, all vessels operating in the country’s territorial waters are expected to be Nigerian-owned, crewed by Nigerians, maintained in Nigeria and built in Nigeria. But since the country presently does not have the capacity to build ships, the law made provision for waiver in this regard, meaning that a Cabotage craft could be one built outside Nigeria; the minister of transport  grants such a waiver.

By the Act therefore, any ship operating in the coastal terrain of Nigeria that does not meet all these conditions should be subject to arrest and prosecution.

Sadly, since the law came into force, it has been free for all as foreign vessels have continued to dominate local shipping. For example, the country is known presently to be a huge importer of petroleum products since the nation’s four refineries are not operating optimally.

By this, following the law strictly, it would have been a case of mother vessels bringing the products from abroad, stopping at the entry points from where small Nigerian Cabotage ships would lift them for local distribution. This, unfortunately, has not been the case.

It has been a situation where foreign vessels do everything. Even the international oil companies (IOCs) that require service boats in their oil exploration and exploitation, have not helped matters. The scenario has been worsened by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which has failed to extend products lifting jobs to indigenous operators on the flimsy excuse of not having the capacity. Capacity here, according to NNPC, includes not having classed ships.

But what the NNPC forgot was bringing vessels to class is hinged on having jobs from where a craft could garner the requisite funds for her upkeep. In fact, this is why majority of the few Nigerian vessels are not classed. Today, the plight of indigenous ship operators has worsened more than it was before the Cabotage law was instituted.

The baffling thing is that as the abuse of the Cabotage Act by foreign vessel owners continued unabated, the previous managements of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, looked the other way.

In2009 and 2010 for instance,  the Indigenous Shipowners’ Association of Nigeria (ISAN), took it upon itself to arrest some vessels violating the Cabotage regime. The association went as far as hiring notable maritime lawyers to prosecute the offending vessels. Yet, NIMASA looked the other way. By virtue of the Act establishing the agency, it has as much power as the Police and the Navy, yet the political will was absence to enforce the law.

As a Daniel came to judgment, not too long ago, the management of NIMASA under the leadership of Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi issued a stern warning to those engaged in illegal businesses in the nation’s territorial waters to desist from such acts.

This warning came on the heels of the arrest and detention of a vessel MT ORTAKOY 1 for engaging in illegal business on Nigerian waters. The vessel’s arrest was triggered off when the Joint Nigeria-Benin Maritime Patrol Task Force officers on patrol spotted two vessels alongside each other carrying out suspicious activities close to the Nigeria/Benin border.

Following that, the NIMASA boss issue d an order detaining another vessel, MT Green Dolphin, for allegedly operating illegally on Nigerian waters. Also within the same period, 10 Indian nationals, all crew members of a distressed Vessel, MT JACKSONVILLE, a Liberian registered vessel, were saved from imminent death by a Search and Rescue operation carried out by the agency.

The ship Master, had explained that the vessel had developed a major fault and that they were carrying out electrical welding on board before a loud explosion was heard in the engine room. The repair was carried out without any approval from appropriate authorities in Nigeria.

The agency’s team took samples of the pollutant which was sent for laboratory analysis to determine its actual identity. It was also established that the vessel was flying the Liberian flag while her documentations were of Panama.

No up to date documents were found onboard the vessel as they were last updated in 2009. Akpobolokemi thereafter gave the vessel 24 hours to clear the pollution she had caused or that his agency would do so at the ship’s expense.

In the same vein, on October 26, 2011 another foreign vessel, MT. Maroni, was arrested for conducting illegal business on Nigeria waters. Ditto MT Capabell, even as MT Adamas and MT Sol-Lueshing were equally picked up on October 8, 2011 on Benin Republic waters.

A motor tanker vessel, MT Kemepade , reported missing from the Lagos anchorage on Wednesday September 28, 2011 was found in a shipyard at Tema harbour in Ghana with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) number wipped off.

It was discovered that declaring her missing was a mere cover-up. Apart from deploying Automatic Identification Tracking System (AIS), the Agency also collaborated with neigbouring countries such as Togo, Liberia and Benin through their Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers (MRCCs) to uncover the tricks and located the tanker.

This rare courage to apprehend offending vessels is unprecedented in the history of the agency, as managements before now dreaded the powerful Nigerian cabal behind the illegal businesses in the country’s territorial waters. They were seen as the untouchables and risky to tackle.

Kudos to President Goodluck Jonathan for giving the agency the free reign to operate! Apart from collaborating with sister African nations to check criminality on Nigerian waters, the agency has also extended a hand of cooperation to the French navy for same purpose.

The agency sought the deal recently when the captain of a Spanish ship, MV Cazadora, Lt. Commander Ignacio Lopez De Ayala and his crew visited Akpobolokemi in his office. The Nimasa boss is optimistic that piracy, armed robbery and illegal bunkering in Nigeria would soon be over as various measures have been put in place to cover the wide stretch of Nigeria’s coasts.

On the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) aimed at empowering shipping practitioners, the agency is bidding its time to avoid the over $110 million lifeline getting into wrong hands as it was revealed that politicians are angling to hijack it.

But the Nimasa boss would have none of that. Hear him, “No Nigerian politician, under whatever guise and no matter how highly placed, would be allowed to access the Cabotage Vessel Financing Funds”. “Politicians see the fund as a bonus and I have resisted all manner of pressure to disburse the funds so far”, the Nimasa helmsman stated, explaining that that was the reason for the delay.

“Everybody is scrambling for the money but we are carefully scrutinising all applications. I shall personally inspect the facilities and other logistics of all the intending beneficiaries to ensure that those who eventually get the loans use them for the purpose they are meant’’, Akpobolokemi declared.

He said he would not completely leave the disbursement process to the four banks which have been appointment to administer the funds without interference.

“What happens to the loans if any of the banks go under? Nimasa will then be left alone to carry the loss in the event that the beneficiaries are not properly screened to ascertain the genuineness of their purpose”, he remarked.

According to observers there is no other better way to empower and encourage local shipping operators than strict implementation of the laws of the land, as done in every country like the US where the Jones Act of 1920 is no respecter of foreigners.

Mr. Godfrey Bivbere, writes from Lagos.