As NIMASA presses for review of war risk premium

By Cynthia Alo

Minister of Transportation,Chibuike Amaechi, has challenged ship-owners and other stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime industry to device creative means of ensuring improved welfare for seafarers, while proffering permanent solutions to issues that affect their work.

Amaechi made this call over the weekend at the 2021 Day of the Seafarer,  tagged, “Fair Future for Seafarers.”

The minister, who  commended seafarers in Nigeria and the world over for their enormous contributions to global commerce and economy, generally stressed that  seafarers contend with perils of the seas and sometimes put their lives on the line just to ensure that goods are safely delivered at designated ports.  

According to him, ‘this is one of the reasons we celebrate the seafarers’’.

He said, ‘’l am, however, glad to inform you that Nigeria, as a member state of the IMO, was one of the first countries to declare seafarers essential workers in order to ease their sufferings,

“The nation through the Federal Ministry of Transportation and its Agencies will continue to ensure that government policies are tailored towards improving the welfare and working conditions of the seafarers in line with international standard and statutory conventions, he added.  

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Amaechi reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian government to ensuring that the country’s maritime domain remained safe and secure for seafarers working on ships transiting through the waterways.

Also speaking, Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh,  restated his call on the international community to reexamine the war risk insurance imposed on Gulf of Guinea-bound ships, saying security conditions in the region are rapidly improving.

reacting to the response of the Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a specialist business information service dedicated to the global maritime community, to his earlier call for review of the high insurance based on improved security conditions in the region further  highlighted the harrowing experiences seafarers endured in the course of their job, especially at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

He said, ‘’It is significant that critical stakeholders in the world shipping community, like Lloyd’s List, are recognising Nigeria’s efforts to make the Gulf of Guinea safe and secure for seafarers and ships,” the Director General said. “But it would be unfair for the world to sidestep such huge investment and commitment to maritime security and retain the high war risk insurance premium on ships bound for our waters.”

  “Since the world now acknowledges our commitment to maritime security and the recent improvements in security, it is only fair that relevant stakeholders should begin to rethink the charges that predated such efforts by Nigeria.

“The poor masses of this country should not be made to pay for the actions of a few individuals bent on tarnishing Nigeria’s image.”