The Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive,  Nigerian Shippers ‘Council, NSC,  Hassan Bello, has said that the imposition of surcharges on Nigerian bound cargo due to imaginary security concerns along the Gulf of Guinea region is a misconception of foreign shipping lines.

FOR the first time in many years, salt import topped the Nigerian Import Chart with of 13million metric tonnes for March 2019, beating fish imports which topped the chart in the first two months of this year.

The Lagos State Government has inaugurated a 23-man committee to tackle the environmental hazards caused by tank farm activities in  Satellite town, Amuwo-Odofin local government of Lagos.   

The Federal Government is working towards generating over N4.6 billion ($15 million) annually from the huge potentials in the maritime industry, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, has said.

A retired Navy Captain, George Alaily has called for the use of duckable drones as a cheap way of policing the nation’s waterways and tackling the problem of piracy be-devilling the country.

Despite the huge maritime potentials in the country, Nigeria is not ranked amongst the first five countries in the continent in terms of maritime connectivity.

Globally, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, based in Singapore, recorded 201 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery in 2018, up from 180 in 2017. The Gulf of Guinea remained increasingly dangerous for seafarers as reports of attacks in waters between the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo more than doubled in 2018.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, said it is focused on ensuring that the nation’s crude oil trade terms is changed from the present Free on Board, FOB to Cost Insurance Freight, CIF.

SHIP owners’ reluctance to assist in salvage operations when other vessels are in distress has been attributed to an aspect of the law which empowers the owner of the distressed vessel to sue the rescuer in case of damages to vessel in distress or loss of lives.

REPRESENTING the majority of the crude oil exported from Africa, low sulphur will become ‘increasingly desirable’ in the coming years, Poten & Partners said. 

Perpetrators tried to board a containership owned by Singapore’s Pacific International Lines (PIL) while the vessel was sailing on the high sea in the Gulf of Guinea on February 21, 2019.

SECRETARY General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Mr Kitack Lim, has commended the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), for developing its programmes in accordance with developments within the maritime industry.

MARITIME stakeholders and other dignitaries were in Benin over the weekend for the burial of the mother of Engr. Greg Ogbeifun, President, Ship Owners Association of Nigeria, SOAN), Cecilia Ogbeifun who died on January 9, 2019 at the age of 100 years.

Repeat clash between operatives of the Ogun Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and suspected smugglers in the border communities of the state Friday, resulted in serious injuries of two customs men, who are presently recuperating at an undisclosed hospital.

FORMER President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA Prince Olayiwola Shittu, has said that government is more interested in generating revenue into its pulse than facilitating trade.