The Saudi- and UAE-backed campaign to retake the port of Hodeidah, Yemen from Houthi rebels has come to a near-halt, one month after Yemeni government forces began their offensive. Despite promises of a quick, decisive victory that would give the Saudi-led coalition new leverage in negotiations with the Houthis, the battle lines remain stalled at Hodeidah’s airport, which lies on the other side of the city from the port complex.
While the fighting has slowed, the coalition has not indicated any change in its desire to retake the port and expel Houthi forces from the city. In UN-facilitated negotiations, the coalition’s members continue to insist that the Houthis must withdraw, unconditionally. As a compromise, Houthi leaders have offered to transfer control of port operations to the United Nations if they can remain in the city.
Some international observers – notably the Democratic party leadership in the United States Congress – have expressed support for this arrangement, and have encouraged the coalition to accept it as an alternative to a protracted seige. In a letter to the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Representatives Steny Hoyer, Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, Adam Schiff and Ted Deutch called for assurances that the port of Hodeidah’s operations would continue uninterrupted, and suggested that the coalition should “be flexible with regard to [its] requirements” – in particular, the demand that the Houthis leave the city and port.
Rep. Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee’s ranking member, linked his concerns over Hodeidah to American assistance. The Saudi coalition’s air campaign is facilitated by foreign in-flight refueling services, and its ground forces are resupplied with munitions purchased abroad. The U.S. State Department approved a $1 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia in March, including $670 million for anti-tank missiles, $100 million for military helicopter maintenance, and $300 million in parts for Saudi tanks and military vehicles. “If an offensive by Saudi Arabia and the UAE further escalates the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, President Trump must make it clear that it will jeopardize the U.S. support that has helped enable the military campaign in Yemen,” said Rep. Schiff.
However, a political agreement to end the fighting may take some time to materialize. In a statement carried by pro-coalition social media, Yemeni Republican Guards Brigadier Tariq Saleh said that he is “preparing for the post-Hodeidah-battle,” and will continue to advance until the Houthi capital at Sanaa is retaken. Social media reports indicate that coalition airstrikes and fighting around the airport continue.
Humanitarian concerns
Aid groups have expressed concern that fighting in Hodeidah could lead to casualties among Yemen’s civilian population, including some of the estimated eight million people who are already at risk of starvation in the country. Hodeidah is the primary port of entry for Yemen’s food and medicine imports, and an interruption in the flow of relief supplies could have an impact on aid efforts. Separately, damage to water mains and sewer lines could raise the risk of a cholera outbreak within the city – especially given Yemen’s hot weather.
An estimated 35,000 people have fled to escape the fighting on Hodeidah’s outskirts, according to the charity Mona Relief, including 12,000 people who traveled inland to Sanaa. Aid groups are distributing food in Sanaa to assist displaced families.
*As report pressures freight, insurance rates *Nigeria may still lead Q2 ‘18 piracy ranking There are indications that the upcoming security report on Nigeria’s marine space may worsen with operators accusing international interest groups of mischief over the report. But Nigerian maritime industry stakeholders also indicated that despite the controversial nature of the figures on piracy attacks the number of incidences would certainly increase and Nigeria would maintain lead on the global piracy ranking in the second quarter, 2018.
Top 5 pirates prone countries: Q1’18 and Pirates attack on vessels: Q1’18 The International Maritime Bureau, IMB, in its first quarter 2018, Q1’18, reports, noted that Nigeria currently leads in global pirates attacks against vessels. In the IMB report, Nigeria alone recorded a total of 22 of the 45 as against Indonesia that recorded nine attacks and Venezuela has five attacks in the first three months of the year. Global pirate attacks while four other countries namely Venezuela, Indonesia, Republic of Benin and Bangladesh recorded a total of 23 attacks.
A breakdown of the report showed that Bangladesh recorded four and Republic of Benin had five while. Although, maritime security experts have contested the figure of the IMB, saying that number of attacks recorded in Nigeria during the quarter is likely to be lower, some foreign shipping firms confided in Vanguard Maritime Report that Nigeria do not have credible data as information on attacks go straight to the foreign ship owners who in turn report to the international organisation (IMB) rather than Nigerian authorities.
Some Nigerian operators have played down the figures, attributing it to plans by the developed countries to paint developing countries such as Nigeria, in security bad light, leading to increase in freight rates and marine insurance. Speaking with Vanguard Maritime Report, President of the Ship-owners Association of Nigeria, SOAN, and Managing Director/CEO of Starzs Marine and Engineering Limited, Greg Ogbeifun, said the report should not be taken serious as it is only meant to promote the interest of international operators.
According to him, “Personally I am not too bordered about piracy or whatever, they are always working to paint Nigeria black. I am not moved by their comments and that is the truth. They are the ones that are encouraging all these strives and unrest in all the developing countries and then they will also turn around to begin to complain. “I said there wouldn’t have been piracy in this country if there were no international connection to illegal bunkering. Those people are the ones behind all these problems we talk about. So they should stop stoking all these improprieties against developing countries, they should stop encouraging it.
“All the piracy money, all the kidnapping money that they are collecting, who is collecting it, are they paying the money into Nigerian banks? They are not paying the money into Nigerian backs; they are paying it into foreign countries. “They are the ones encouraging it, some I do not think that we should be overly blaming ourselves or feeling bad because some foreign body says that Nigeria has now become a hub for piracy.” On whether members of SOAN has not been affected he responded, “Am not aware of any of my members who have been affected, most of the piracy attacks take place far away from the coast of Nigeria, it is not necessarily in-country attack.
There was a time we use to have such attacks but for sometimes now we have not had in-country piracy attacks.” Similarly, the Chairman of the Port Facility Security Officers, PFSO Forum, Dr. Ignatius Uche, agreed with school of thought that there could be a conspiracy against Nigeria in this regard. He said that the issue of pirate attacks on vessels at the terminal has put virtually every government agency operating at the ports on their toes as the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has approved money for the purchase of patrol boats to checkmate the activities of these criminals.
Uche described the situation as very embarrassing adding that the trend was beginning to put Nigeria on the spot in the international maritime comity. He said that figures being bandied by the IMB are not the same with what is recorded by the Nigerian authorities.
According to him the official Nigerian figure should be around 13 attacks in Q1’18. But going by this figure Nigerian would remain the global leader in piracy as the second highest number of attack recorded by IMB is Indonesia with 9 attacks.
However, Uche said “the more these criminals are allowed to operate, the more money and credibility the country is losing. An official of International Ship and Port Facility Security, ISPS Code Unit of NIMASA who spoke to Vanguard Maritime Report on the condition of anonymity said that the issue of pirate attacks on vessels was an international conspiracy by the international shipping community.
The officer said that Nigeria get reports of these attacks from the international maritime organisations as crewmen make these report directly to the principal abroad. The official explained that when these attacks take place, it places high freight premium on Nigerian bound cargoes which attracts more freight payments and marine insurance premium. Former Senior Special Adviser to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Leke Oyewole, told Vanguard Maritime Report that “as long as that security gap remains, that there is no proper patrol around the ports and the anchorage, this trend will continue. “For the second quarter 2018 report the figure is likely to increase if nothing is done to stem the tide of pirate attacks on vessels.”
The fear of increase in pirates attack is coming against the cancellation of a maritime security contract by President Muhammedu Buhari due to the protest by a section of maritime stakeholders against what they saw as unwholesome interest in the deal. The cancellation of the contract was commended by maritime security experts saying that it was absurd for the nation’s Navy to work under a foreign private security firm as provided in the contract terms.
The Nigerian piracy headaches had come a long way prompting the former management of NIMASA to structure an international security contract with Global West Specialist Vessels to address the problem. Under the arrangement NIMASA and Nigerian government was not going to pay any contract sum for the security, rather the contractor would be expected to beef up security to enable NIMASA make money from the ships. In turn the contractor would earn a percentage of the extra revenue. But this arrangement was cancelled by the current administration on grounds that the contract was a conduit pipe to siphon monies from the agency. However, a new security contract was initiated by the present administration where Nigeria would pay USD195 million (about N60billion) to a private security firm for beefing up security at the territorial and coastal waters. But the contract amount raised so much dust that the National Assembly was forced to invite the Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaech, who refused to appear before its committees set up to look into the contract.
Eventually President Mohammadu Buhari was forced to cancel the contract and ordered that the USD50 million upfront payment be recovered by the way of getting the foreign contractor to supply items equivalent to the amount. The contract, signed off by the Federal Executive Council in December 2017, would have seen the contractor, HSLi, an Israeli security firm, rake in $195 million in exchange for an undisclosed number of special mission aircraft, special mission helicopters and 12 fast intervention vessels for the Nigerian Navy. Reacting to the cancellation of the contract Amaechi, Oyewole, while commending President Buhari for cancelling the contract, said that if that contract had been allowed to work, it would have been worse than the Global West contract. He said that the Nigerian Navy is the authority with legal powers to monitor and protect the nation’s maritime domain adding that the Navy should be funded and provided with patrol boats. “I fully support the cancellation of that contract simply because it would have been worse than the Global West contract because the Navy cannot be subjected to work under a foreign private company. “It is odd for the Nigerian Navy to work under it. It is an absurdity that is inconsiderable. To that extent I support the cancellation of that contract. “In the time of Global West, though it was not security firm, the whole of Nigeria cried foul. “The Navy is the only authority that has the mandate to secure the nation’s maritime space.
The Navy should be properly funded and patrol boats should be provided for them. “During the Jonathan era, Global West contract with NIMASA worked out perfectly. What they (NIMASA) did was to sign an MOU with the Navy and gladly enough, Navy came on board to subdue piracy in Lagos and other maritime space across the Nigerian waters which continue until 2015. “As soon as the NIMASA-Global West was pulled down, there was space for the rascals to operate again. “They started by operating off-shore, now they have developed the effrontery to operate even at the ports which is very bad for Nigeria because the freight of goods coming to Nigeria will increase. “This development is not telling any good story about Nigeria.” Way forward Oyewole suggested that the NPA, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and the NIMASA should form a synergy to provide a security platform, where NNPC can provide fuel and NPA and NIMASA can provide money to buy the boats for Navy to operate so as to build a sustainable arrangement to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria. He suggested that there is a need for the country to have a robust surveillance system adding that all processes of ship operations and payments are integrated with the surveillance system. Oyewole said that there must be electronics platform to report any infractions by vessels anywhere in the country. “A special maritime force should be created and sustainable funding mechanism and the Automated Identification System, AIS, be replaced with a better technology. The AIS should be improved upon and make our waters safe so that the payment of high freight rate and marine insurance premium which has been the target of the foreign shipping firms be stopped,” he stated.
At 0810 UTC on 11 July an MV reported sighting a group of skiffs in PSN – 1322N 04245E (Southern Red sea / Bab El Mandeb) One skiff with 8 POB approached to within 0.2NM and crew report sighting a ladder. No aggressive manoeuvres. AST showed weapons and skiff withdrew.
The Swedish P&I Club issued an alert informing that military confrontations have eased in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, pending a political deal that would bring the rebels out of the city and hand over the port to a neutral UN-controlled body. The port of Hodeidah is open and operational.
Hodeidah port position, as of 27 June, shows that there are six ships secured to berth, four ships at anchorage and three ships expected.
The Swedish P&I Club issued an alert informing that military confrontations have eased in the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, pending a political deal that would bring the rebels out of the city and hand over the port to a neutral UN-controlled body. The port of Hodeidah is open and operational.
Hodeidah port position, as of 27 June, shows that there are six ships secured to berth, four ships at anchorage and three ships expected.
Somali piracy has not been eradicated and remains a threat. As well as piracy, regional instability and conflict have resulted in the deliberate targeting of ships by extremist groups using weapons such as anti-ship missiles, sea mines and Water-Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (WBIED).
Warships and aircraft of EU NAVFOR Somalia’s Operation Atalanta continue to patrol the region, providing a permanent presence to deter, prevent and repress piracy and other maritime security threats and the protect World Food Programme (WFP) and other vulnerable shipping off the Horn of African and the Coast of Somalia.
The short film provides an insight into the work of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP), the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance cooperation against piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia.
The ReCAAP Agreement was launched in November 2006 with 14 Asian Contracting Parties including North, Southeast, and South Asian countries. It has 20 Contracting Parties today, including Europe (Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom), Australia, and the United States. The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAAP ISC) was established in Singapore on 29 November 2006. At the 12th Governing Council Meeting in 2018, the Council announced that ReCAAP ISC has met the criteria to be a Centre of Excellence for information sharing in combating piracy and armed robbery at sea.
European tuna vessels are avoiding fishing in the Gulf of Guinea and nearby waters amid a rising threat of piracy in the area.
Most European tuna vessels generally fish further up north in the Atlantic, industry sources told Undercurrent. In recent months, they have preferred to avoid the area, in any case, due to the risk of being attacked.
“We received detailed information from the Operations and Surveillance Center of Maritime Action of the Navy (COVAM) on the situation that is lived, in general, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is true that there is an increase in piratical activity more related to what some call armed robbery at sea, sometimes linked to attacks in anchorages, or fuel theft,” Borja Alonso, director of legal affairs and sustainability at Albacora, told Undercurrent News.
“But we understand that, although we follow these events with concern (the kidnapping that happened in March could have affected anyone), we are far from the situations that came to live in the Indian Ocean some time ago,” Alonso added.
Over the last six years, the threat from piracy in the Gulf of Guinea “has increased significantly, from a focus on the hijacking of tankers for cargo theft to the situation we see now where there is a threat against all types of shipping with the kidnapping of seafarers for ransom”, Max Williams, fleet operations director at security service provider Africa Risk Compliance (ARC), told Undercurrent.
“We believe that the threat since mid-2016 has been at an elevated level, and we correctly predicted that there would be an increase in attacks on vessels off Togo and Ghana following incidents against merchant vessels in Benin in the first three months of 2018. We have counted over 80 incidents against merchant vessels in the Gulf of Guinea since the start of the year,” Williams said.
An incident against a fishing vessel in West Africa took place off Ghana in late March, with the kidnapping of three sailors from a tuna pole and line vessel that belongs to World Marine, a Ghanaian-Korean joint venture company, according to sources.
“It is a very serious matter in the Atlantic, as the Korean captain, chief engineer and first officer were kidnapped. The Korean government dispatched a navy vessel from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic urgently, and within few days after arrival, all crew was released,” one Korean industry source told Undercurrent.
“Ghana Tuna Association asked the Ghanaian government to monitor pirate in the zone and asked all boat owners not to fish alone or isolated, to make some group with few boats in the Ghana zone,” the industry source added.
Other incidents in 2018 include an attack on two fishing vessels south-west of Lagos in March, an attack on a local fishing vessel in Cotonou when a fisherman was killed, and the kidnapping of three crew from a Chinese fishing boat in Cameroonian waters in February, according to Williams.
Aside from the above incidents against fishing vessels, larger merchant vessels of all types have regularly come under attack south and south-west of Bonny, Nigeria, and Lagos is currently experiencing a spike in security incidents within the port area.
“As we include attacks against local vessels in our figures, we believe that over 100 seafarers have been kidnapped since the beginning of the year, with several crew members and vessel passengers injured and some killed,” Williams said.
Compared to the Indian Ocean, the threat of piracy is far greater in the Gulf of Guinea, Williams pointed out. “The threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean has reduced with the embarkation of privately armed security personnel and the presence of the international navies and the coordination with UKMTO [UK Maritime Trade Operations] and MSCHOA [Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa]. However, the conflict in Yemen does increase the risk against merchant vessels, although they may not be intended targets if they are not calling at Yemeni ports and are instead at risk of collateral damage from the conflict,” Williams said.
Fishing companies should ensure that they are aware of where exactly the threat is.
It has been demonstrated that pirates have the ability to attack vessels at significant distances from the shore and companies should have an understanding of where attacks are happening and what the trends are, Williams pointed out.
“This is the reason we operate our intelligence system which keeps clients informed of when and where attacks happen. Vessels are at their most vulnerable when stationary or moving slowly, and a low freeboard makes it easy for pirates to board. Vessels should conduct watch routines at all times of day and night, and equipment like night vision goggles can be very useful to maintain an effective lookout during the night,” he said.
Efficient and tested security procedures, such as emergency drills, should be in place, and vessels should be hardened as much as possible with equipment such as razor wire, steel plates or bars over windows and secure doors.
“If it is not possible to secure a vessel effectively (due to cargo or fishing operations), a well-constructed citadel is a very effective means to offer protection to crew should the vessel be attacked and boarded by pirates. As part of our services, vessel security surveys and crew training are designed to assist in this, and this approaches can offer a more cost-effective security solution than the armed guards and escort vessels employed by larger merchant vessels,” Williams said.
ARC, a company that provides a range of security services to shipping in the Gulf of Guinea since 2012, offers security services based on each client’s budget and requirement. The offered security options include embarked armed security when in territorial waters, unarmed security consultants embarked and remaining on vessels as they sail across the region, and armed escort vessels when vessels are entering ports and river channels.
Adjudicating on admiralty or maritime matters was a herculean task for Nigerian judges as well as lawyers who appear before them until the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) decided to take the bull by the horns by way of organizing international seminars for judges. Today, the story has changed and more judges are now at home with contemporary issues on international transportation laws. The Executive Secretary of the NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, in this interview with select journalist including Joseph Onyekwere gives an overview of their upcoming seminar. He, among other issues hinted that the agenda to push for piracy law in Nigeria is in the works, when the judges’ seminar for this year ends July 5.
After a long wait, the senate has finally passed the National Transport Commission bill. How will it impact on what the Council does?
How it would impact on the economy is even more important because the Commission is a multi-sectoral bill, which is structured to take care of economic regulation of the industry. When the port reform was introduced almost 10 years ago, there was a serious gap, where there was no economic regulator. This gap has threatened to roll back the gains of the reforms. If we have economic regulator across all transport chains, including aviation, marine, rail, road and inland waterways, there will be multiplier effect on the economy. The economic regulator is there to guarantee the efficiency of transportation. It will also guarantee healthy competition. Don’t forget that Nigeria is in competition with its neighbouring central and Western Africans ports. If we improve efficiency, we will gain more cargo and a lot of people will be employed too. Economic regulator will also ensure that there are conducive environment for investment. The government should guarantee the investment of investors, both local and foreign. So, the economic regulator is the referee in this game. The Nigerian Shippers Council has always been a regulator since 1978, when it was set up. It was not emphasized at that time because government was the operator of all transport system. But now, the private sector is there. So, there is need for us to have that regulator. If the capacity of the Shippers Council is enhanced, it would do its work more. Shippers Council would be the nucleus of the National Transportation Commission, but all the other agencies would also be part of it.
How will the intended Commission relate to the National Fleet Implementation Committee, of which you are the chairman?
One of the cardinal agenda of the committee is for Nigerians to own and operate ships. We are not reinventing the wheels. Nigeria had been trading for a long time. We once had the Nigerian National Shipping Line. What people don’t really understand is that there is a radical departure now. The fleet will be a private led national fleet and not that of the government as it was operating before. You need the private sector to come and lead. So government is not spending one kobo. The function of the committee is to look at the issues that would make it conducive for that initiative to grow. Introducing National fleet is not buying akara or bread. We need a sustainable national fleet that would operate because of the tremendous advantages. NIMASA can give the fleet national carrier status. Once that happens, they will have exclusive right to government cargo. You can imagine what the earnings of the fleet can do to our economy and the effect on our financial institutions. We have to address the economic management team. We are talking with Central Bank and the ministry of budget also.
You are the chairman of the committee, but there is a media report that you have not started sitting?
That is not true. We don’t invite people when we sit. We have met over 50 times. It is surprising for someone to say we have not been meeting. As a matter of fact, we have gone far. We have recommended the incentives necessary for us to develop these fleets. Very soon, you will start seeing concrete achievement of this committee.
What exactly informed your decision to organize international seminar for judges?
It is the need to bridge the knowledge gap. Since 1995, Nigerian Shippers Council realized that there was a kind of vacuum on the decision of judges on admiralty matters. The adjudication took a long time. Neither the judges nor the lawyers who practice before them were actually conversant with the very technical nature of admiralty law, by extension, international trade and other transportation laws. So, for us to have the internationality that is needed, we need to have a modern adjudicatory system. The judges must be able to adjudicate not just correctly, but timeously. Therefore, we intend to bridge this gap to educate and inform the judges on developments on international law so as to speed up cases. Hitherto, there were only few judges who were conversant with admiralty law or what we call maritime law. Because of this seminar, over 1000 judges have been trained and the international community has begun to realize that the decision of judges in Nigeria was becoming better. Admiralty law or maritime law was not taught in our Universities, neither was it a course in the law school and so, sometimes the decisions were not very good then. But now, the decisions of our judges are becoming better and are internationally acknowledged to be very good. There are also structural changes in maritime law and jurisprudence. You know that the federal high court has exclusive jurisdiction on maritime matters before it goes to the appeal court and the Supreme Court. So these are our targets, but they could be overlapping jurisdictions at the state high courts. And sometimes, judges of the state high courts are given appointment to the federal high court or promoted to the court of appeal. So, the whole thing is to update their knowledge on maritime laws.
A lot of people impute motive to things. Are you not a bit concerned that as an institution that would one time or the other appear before those judges, it is unethical to sponsor their training?
There is nothing like that absolutely. Nigerian judges know their responsibilities. We take the judiciary as a stakeholder just the same way we organize conferences for freight-forwarders, organize courses for shippers, administrators and many other stakeholders. The judiciary is a very important stakeholder and our relationship is nothing but official. It cannot be a thing of influence; after all, we have been taken to court and we got adverse judgments. Until now that you pointed it out, I have not thought of it. And other institutions also organize such courses too. The exercise is meant to update the knowledge of our judges.
You are in the 15th edition of this seminar. What is your appraisal of the event so far?
The seminar first of all updates the knowledge of our judges. Secondly, it influences and has created what I may call a judicial backup for our system. We have legislations that have come out of this seminar. The Homburg Rules, which is an international convention, has been ratified. This is as a result of what had happened in this seminar. Even the Cabotage Act was as a result of this seminar; reforms in the freight forwarding practice, leading to the council for regulation of freight-forwarders. So the seminar is not just a talk-shop. It takes a look at the whole maritime law, where various topics are discussed. It is a seminar specifically targeted at the judges.
What are the highlights of this year’s seminar?
We will discuss burning issues that are disturbing us, contemporary issues and we interact directly with the judges to know what their own challenges are. For instance, the issue of piracy in Nigeria is becoming a disturbing phenomenon. In Nigeria, we don’t have a leading law on piracy. The suppression of unlawful Act, which is supposed to be the main convention, is yet to be ratified by Nigeria. So, sometimes, we have to rely on municipal laws. Therefore, we will bring out a panel to discuss this issue of piracy. What we want is that after the seminar, there will be a law on piracy. We have assembled panels, made up of experts. The topic is piracy and armed robbery at sea: judicial interpretation and economic implication. There is always a nexus between the economy and the judiciary.
We have Dr. Kamal Deen Ali, who is Ghanaian Navy Captain and also a director, Centre for Maritime Law and Security, Accra, Ghana, who will provide the lead paper. And this would be commented, by the director general of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), director, legal services of the Nigerian Navy, the regional maritime Security Project officer of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and Mike Igbokwe (SAN), who is an expert on admiralty law. Our aim is to push for a comprehensive legislation on piracy because piracy has economic implication on Nigerian trade. We also have applicability of international treaties to Nigerian laws. This will be delivered by prof. Akin Oyebode, former dean, faculty of law, University of Lagos. There are some technical issues about domestication of international conventions. For instance, what we have right now are two conventions operating in Nigeria – The Hague rules and the Homburg rule, which is abnormal because the legislature did not accept the Homburg rules and The Hague rules side by side. There is almost confusion on what is to be done and prof Oyebode would be able to clear that issue. Those are the kind of issues that would interest the judges and stakeholders.
In assessing your previous seminars, you hinted that part of your success story was the enactment of the cabotage Act. In your own estimation, how far has that Act impacted on Maritime industry in the country?
We ought to be practical when we bring out legislation. We cannot legislate in vain. The cardinal issues on Cabotage are three – the ship must be built in Nigeria, it must be crewed by Nigerians and Nigerians must own it. This is a trade in brown waters similar to Jones Act as we have it in America. But in Nigeria, the infrastructure necessary to give life to Cabotage Act is not there. Unfortunately, we have not been able to provide ship-building yard for us to produce that ship. Until now, our nautical colleges have not been able to churn out qualified cadets. Ownership could be done, but the other two things are unable to manifest.
So we cannot implement a law that is not just there. I think we are grappling with the implementation. Cabotage law is a good law aimed at building the capacity of our indigenous shippers and employing our cadets, but the conditions necessary for the implementation of this law is not just there yet.
Having that in mind and also muting the idea of the piracy law, what are you going to do differently to ensure it does not suffer the same fate?
Piracy does not need infrastructure, which the Cabotage needs. What we need to do on piracy is to define what it means and bring it out of armed robbery and militancy and include enough deterrent. That is the main issue. If we do that, piracy would be properly defined and the sanctions are there, then there will be deterrent. The security architecture would be better defined after this seminar.
Apart from the issue of piracy, what other contemporary issues within the maritime industry are you focusing on?
We have the rights of a Cargo Owner at the Insolvency of the Carrier. We are taking the case study of the Hanjin Shipping experience, a big Shipping company that went down. What are the contractual obligations of everybody who is affected by it? Maritime is multifacet. There are so many parties and agencies involved. It is a myriad of rights and obligations. We also have an overview of the proposed liability regime for inland carriage of goods. This is very important issue. While we have international conventions on international waters, carriage of goods internally, there is no regulations and there is no liability regime. Everybody does whatever he or she wants. But Nigerian Shippers Council is trying to provide order. There must be some responsibilities and order. If you give your luggage to one of the luxury buses to take to Enugu and it got missing, who takes liability for that? Even on trains, what are the obligations if there is a breakdown and your cargo is not delivered?
How do you push the narratives that will come out of this seminar in order to have maximum impact?
We have an implementation committee for maximum impact and result. Immediately after the seminar, the committee looks at all the resolutions and then we discuss with the National Assembly and demand legislation.
Apart from the robust idea of organizing this seminar and the results that comes from it, how far have you been able to fulfill your mandate as economic regulator?
This is an important question and it has been very challenging. Once something is new, the action usually differs. The port reform had gone eight years when Nigerian Shippers Council was appointed. I always give example of people playing football in the park. You could do anything including scoring goal with your hands because there are no rules. But suddenly the referee appears to begin to blow the whistle. The most important thing is that the Nigerian Shippers Council has been recognized and slowly we are inching towards that. We are independent. We must maintain our independence from government and remain that referee that would sanction anybody, including the shippers, terminal operators, freightforwarders and Shipping lines.
What we want is the coming together. We want to introduce harmony. The first thing we did was to involve ourselves so much in introducing standard operating procedure at the ports because the port was just going without any rules. There are many agencies and everybody does what they liked. We need to banish corruption from the ports. It must block leakages because government was suffering hemorrhage in collection of its revenues and we have to introduce specific rules to check it. Most importantly, our ports must be able to compete, not only in Nigeria, but internationally. We have to introduce automation in port operations. We can’t have people going to the port all the time. We need a system, whereby one does not need to be in the port to clear his or her goods. Automation and technology are the light that would eliminate all the dark spots in the port and banish corruption.
You don’t need to arrest anybody. Those who can no longer operate in the old ways will comply, while those who cannot comply go away. Transportation must make its meaningful contribution to our economy. What it is doing now is not enough. We also have the rail revolution coming up. It will never be the same again for Nigeria. It will be a game changer because rail carries volumes and it is cheaper. It integrates the country serving the seaport and the inland port. That means we are diversifying our economy for exports and export is the way to go. We are opening up the system and once that is done, Nigeria will be a very strong economy.
At 0708UTC on 26 June 2018 an MV in position 133024N 0424342E was approached by 2 speedboats with 8-10 POB in each. AST showed weapons and speedboats departed. Speedboats had previously approached 2 other MV’s in the vicinity.
