The audit of the Nigerian Maritime Academy (MAN) Oron, and Nigeria Maritime University in Nigeria by notable flag states has become critical to securing spaces onboard foreign-flagged vessels for Nigerian trained seafarers, the NLNG Ship Management Ltd (NSML), has said.
Statistics show that China, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine are estimated to be the five largest supply countries for all seafarers particularly officers and ratings. These countries receive hundreds of billions of dollars worth of revenue repatriations annually from exporting seafarers to other countries.
This proves, without a doubt, that Nigeria can earn huge revenue in foreign exchange by exporting seamen and getting them onboard seagoing vessels. In addition to revenue generation, the country can as well use seafaring as a means of creating jobs for the youths.
Speaking during an interview with BusinessDay in Lagos recently, Abdul-Kadir Ahmed, managing director/CEO of NSML, said a lot of work needs to be done to bring the Certificate of Competency (CoC) issued in Nigeria up to international standards.
According to him, the processes of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which is the CoC certifying body in Nigeria, also need to undergo verifications audits by other flag states.
“If Nigeria says it has a Maritime Academy issuing CoCs that are certified by the maritime body, which is NIMASA. For another body to feel comfortable that the quality of training, as well as the quality of certification process, is up to scratch, such bodies need to at least do their verification audits,” Ahmed said.
Read also: APM Terminals Apapa opens new office as part of $438m investment
On the side of NIMASA, he said, there is also a need for the auditing of the process and system of verification because NIMASA is a certifying body.
He said there is a multiple verification audit for both the maritime academies, as well as the regulators before Nigerian trained seafarers can be acceptable internationally to board foreign-flagged vessels.
Ahmed, who noted that Nigeria as a maritime nation should be in the business of exporting seafarers just like India and the Philippines makes a lot of money from the provision of crews on vessel globally, said Nigeria has the population, the skill sets, the drive and added with the ingenuity of the Nigerian spirit.
Hambali Yusuf, fleet manager of NSML, also said at the annual conference of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN) organised in partnership with NSML, that there is the need for auditing of Nigeria’s maritime institutions by other flag states to approve the employability of Nigerian-trained seamen on board their vessels.
Yusuf, who is a ship captain, said countries like Ghana and South Africa have been able to get approval from other important flag states, which make their seafarers acceptable to those flagged states.
“To ensure that Nigerian seafarer becomes a seafarer of choice internationally, the Nigerian Maritime Academy needs to get other flag states to audit their systems and processes to enable Nigeria to join Ghana and South Africa on the white list of countries that their seafarers are globally acceptable,” Yusuf, who spoke on a penal session themed, ‘International Acceptance of Nigeria’s Maritime Colleges Certifications.’
According to him, it will enable Nigerian cadets with NIMASA issued CoCs to be able to go onboard seagoing vessels because shipping companies globally lookout for internationally set standards before employing seafarers, and the checklist is the same all over the world.
