By Godwin Oritse

IN a bid to enhance the employability of Nigerian seafarers, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has commenced moves to fine-tune the integrity of seafarers certificates issued by Nigerian government.

Speaking to Vanguard Maritime Report on the sideline of the commissioning of two brand new tug boats in Lagos, Director General of the NIMASA Dr. Dayo Mobereola, said that the agency has put measures in place to ensure that the process of issuing its Certificate of Competency, COC, is internationally credible.

Mobereola also said that the process will make the issuance of the COC to be accepted not only in the Gulf of Guinea, GoG but all over the world.

The NIMASA stated that Nigeria has very competent seafarers but the process of certification is what is currently in question.

He stated: “ I have been looking at ensuring that our process of issuing our CoCs is one of internationally recognized process so that it can be accepted not only in the Gulf of Guinea regions, but globally so that our seafarers can go and work on U.S. vessels, U.K registered vessels, Bermuda registered vessels and all of those jurisdictions.

“It is just a matter of process; it is not that we do not have the competent seafarers, it is not that we do not have a process in place, it is just to ensure that this process is fine-tuned in such a way that it is internationally acceptable for the shipping companies and that is what we are working on.’’

Recall that the Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association, NMNO/WTSSA, has decried the non-availability of a multilateral agreement between Nigeria and other maritime countries, a development that denied thousands of Nigerian seafarers employment in the seafaring sub-sector of the Nigerian maritime industry.

Engr. Joseph Yousuo, disclosed that Ghana has mutual agreement with almost 30 maritime communities hence the recognition of Ghana’s Certificate of Competence.

The agreement, according to Yousuo, has also led to Ghana dominating seafarers’ employment in the sub-region.

Speaking with Vanguard Maritime Report, at the just concluded quarterly meeting of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariner, NAMM, a foremost ship owner and Master Mariner, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, stated that the COCs are universally standardized and should theoretically be recognized worldwide.

He, however, pointed out that the challenge lies not in the certification itself, but in the perception of how it is obtained.