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By Godwin Oritse
In a bid to enhance the Ease of Doing Business in the maritime sector, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Tuesday commenced its online ship registration process in Lagos.
Disclosing this during a stakeholders’ interactive session with ship-owners, Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said that the Agency has acquired software licence for the automation of the Nigerian Ship Registry, which is rated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as the second largest in Africa, by tonnage, after Liberia, and 46th in the world.
He also said that automation was the only way to boost the worth of the registry and quicken business processes.
The Agency boss disclosed that in 2018 and 2019, the Nigerian registry attracted two high index capacity vessels – Egina FPSO and MT Ultimate.
He stated that NIMASA was confident that a lot more could be done to assist Nigerians in acquiring vessels, hence its intensified effort to ensure the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
Peterside further stated: “Our principal aim is to achieve online electronic registration, accept electronic copies of documents and issue electronic certificates. Our goal as a Maritime Safety Administration is to create a world class Ship Registry, which will be attractive to ship owners with the aim of maintaining the influence of Nigeria in evolving international commercial and regulatory environment for shipping.”
He further disclosed that NIMASA has also commenced moves to audit the register of Nigerian vessels, redesigning and producing new ship registry certificates, and automation of the ship registry just as it are upgrading the ship registry filing facility, review of ship registration guidelines, and ISO 9001: 2015 Certification.
Vanguard Nigeria News