At Seafarers Day 2021, Shipowners Accuse Nigerian Seafarers of Indiscipline, Lack of Dedication

…As NIMASA Tackles Lloyd’s On War Risk Surcharge

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Nigerian seafarers competency and dedication to duty took centre stage yesterday at an event to commemorate the 2021 Seafarers Day celebrations hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) at Eko Hotels, Lagos.

President of Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) Mr Aminu Umar who chaired the panel session opened up on the real reasons why shipowners prefer to employ a foreign crew and pay them higher wages than the Nigerians.

A paper presentation on the theme for the 2021 Day of the Seafarers; “Fair Future for Seafarers” was delivered by Eng Richard Owolabi, Head of Technical Department, Abuja MoU.

During panel discussions, Aminu Umar argued that most Nigerian seafarers are complacent, indiscipline and not dedicated to duty, compared to their foreign counterpart.

While recalling an ugly incident in 2010 when 16 vessels were washed ashore by storm in Lagos, Aminu who is Managing Director of Sea Transport Services Limited, said all the afffected vessels were manned 100percent by Nigerian crew.

He said Nigerian crew, immediately its 6pm would dump their ship at anchore and go clubbing on the island while some of them would take the opportunity to sneak a visit to their houses.

While encouraging young seafarers, he said “We don’t want you to have this entitlement mentality, whenever you are employed by a shipowner, you are selling yourself first, you need to market yourself, and how do you do this? It is by being dedicated and committed”

“In shipping, there is no room for mistakes, if you make a mistake, somebody would die, or you cause a pollution, this means you are bankrupting the company”

“NIMASA can testify to it that, some 8 years ago, there was a storm in Lagos and a lot of ships were swept ashore, all of them today have become wrecks”

“Interestingly, there were other ships on the water but they were not swept ashore all through the storm”

“If you look at these ships that were swept ashore, they had one thing in common, they were 100% manned by Nigerian crew”

“I have video tapes of what happened, the reason why the vessels were swept ashore is because majority of the crew, when it is 1800hrs and the ship is at anchore, they decide to go off-board and go to the club, some of them go to their houses, thinking that nothing would happen till next morning”

“Unfortunately that night, God sent a storm and swept all the ships without crew, most of them today have turned to wrecks.
This is where the issue of discipline comes in”

Also speaking at the event which had all the creme-de-la-creme of Nigerian maritime industry in attendance, President of Nigerian Merchant Officers and Water Transporters Senior Staff Association, Eng Bob Yousuo argued that Nigerian seafarers are the most intelligent and hardworking in the world.

The challenge according to him is that, most Nigerian shipowners do not provide good working conditions onboard the ships, and that many of Nigerian seafarers are not well paid, most times they are owed salaries for several months.

Speaking, Eng Yousuo said “I can tell you categorically that our seafarers are suffering, we are not well paid compared to our neighboring country, only 20% of Nigerian seafarers are well paid”

“As far as I am concerned, Nigerian seafarers are the most strongest and intelligent and hardworking. If you are talking about ineffectiveness and negligent of duty, what causes the ineffectiveness? When you don’t pay your seafarers, they have worked for several months, and you are still owing them salaries, what do you expect them to do?

“Compared to multinational vessels that pay seafarers very well, for example, if I am working on Shell vessel, would I go and sleep? Automatically I would know that if I dont do the right thing I would be sacked, and I would not like to lose my job”

“We worked tirelessly during Covid-19 last year but there is nothing to show for it, seafarers are still suffering, how can you owe a seafarer for 10 years, no good food, no electricity on the ship, and NIMASA’s inspectors are going around, are they not seeing these anomalies?

Eng Yousuo urged NIMASA to partner the union and shipowners in order to implement the minimum standard of salaries and enforce it.
According to him, any shipowner that fails to provide seatime for at least two cadets, should not be allowed to renew his papers by NIMASA.

Eng Yousuo also urged seafarers to also come together under the union in order to speak in one voice and be protected.

Also speaking at the event, Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, however 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.

The Minister while giving his address at the event extolled seafarers in Nigeria and the world over for their enormous contributions to global commerce and economy, generally, saying 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. This is one of the reasons we celebrate the seafarers every year.”

He was represented by the Deputy Director Maritime Safety at the Ministry, Austen Makama.

Meabwhile, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh has insisted on a reconsideration of the war risk insurance premium charged on cargo headed for the Gulf of Guinea.

He was 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.

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.

“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.”

He said continuing the war risk insurance would be a disservice to Nigeria and investors in the country’s maritime environment.

Jamoh stated, “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.”

The highlight of the event was the presentation of Certificates of Competency (COC) to cadets of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) who recently graduated from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandra, Egypt, by the NIMASA Director General.