NIMASA to sustain fight against piracy with national maritime security strategy

Determined to sustain the successes recorded in the fight against piracy on Nigerian waters, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has perfected plans to draft the National Maritime Security Strategy (NMSS).

Bashir Jamoh, director-general of NIMASA, who inaugurated the Expert Level Planning Team (ELPT) that would be trained as Maritime Security Professionals, who would draft the strategy, commended the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for assigning facilitators to assist the country technically in this regards.

According to him, maritime security will always be of priority concern to NIMASA due to its position as the bedrock and guarantee of every meaningful shipping enterprise.

The NIMASA DG said the strategy would become the culmination of all the various efforts, initiatives, and partnerships, which NIMASA started out under its ‘Triple S’ of Maritime Security, Safety, and Shipping Development upon his assumption of office in March 2020.

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“There is no doubt that maritime security is the bedrock and guarantee of every meaningful shipping enterprise. From the crew to cargo to carrier to the coast and quayside, there must be security to drive the shipping business. We want to sustain the current successes recorded in ensuring maritime security within the nation’s maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) as a whole,” he said.

Jamoh said the GoG region is experiencing an unprecedented decline in piracy incidents over the past three decades, which the International Maritime Bureau recently confirmed in its latest report.

He attributed the feat to the concerted efforts of NIMASA in collaboration with other relevant government bodies such as the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Army, the Department of State Security (DSS), and other state and non-state actors.

According to him, it is the Agency’s responsibility to protect ships, seafarers, shipload, merchandise, ports, and all other assets in Nigeria’s maritime domain as mandated by the NIMASA Act, ISPS Code Implementation Regulations (2014) and, the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act.

The Expert Learning Planning Team is to develop a blueprint of the National Maritime Security Strategy (NMSS) that would serve as the basis for the determination of the members of the cross-government Working Group that will execute the drafting process.