Forth from the left: Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside in a photograph with the delegation from the Charkin Maritime and Offshore Safety Centre, led by Sir Charles Wami and some Management Staff of the Agency when the delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Agency in Lagos.

“We are automating our payment platform in line with our strategic growth plan to ensure greater efficiency in the payment process. The new process will be integrated with similar platforms of sister Agencies in order to correctly ascertain levies chargeable per freight and eliminate the bottlenecks currently being experienced”

The foregoing are words of the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside when he hosted representatives of major shipping companies operating in Nigeria under the auspices of the Shipping Association of Nigeria, SAN, in his office recently.

The Director General disclosed that the current practice is being reviewed to ensure greater efficiency. He also assured SAN members that the Agency will institute more transparent ways of calculating the three percent levy charged on all inbound and outbound cargo.

Expectedly, the issue of piracy and other criminal acts on Nigerian waters was a matter weighty on the hearts of members of SAN. They were assured by Dr. Dakuku that the Agency’s commitment to the elimination of piracy and other criminal activities on the waterways is resolute and that the Federal Government through the Office of the National Security Adviser will soon launch a high capacity satellite system that will assist the military in dealing with maritime crimes.

While calling on the shipping companies to support the Agency’s capacity building programme by providing sea time experience for cadets sponsored under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP, the Nigerian Chief maritime administrator reiterated that NIMASA will continue to partner with maritime training institutions to grow capacity.

In his words “for us to grow the local content in the maritime sector that Nigeria deserves, we must be able to take very seriously the issue of training, which is why we in NIMASA will always partner training institutions to grow this capacity”.

SAN pledged to support the capacity building initiatives of the Agency by providing the requisite sea time experience for the NSDP cadets. They also expressed their preparedness and commitment to the development of the Nigerian maritime industry.