The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) are to implement joint measures to curb delay and corrupt practices at the ports.

NIMASA Managing Director Dr Bashir Jamoh revealed this in a statement by Mr. Philip Kyanet, Head of Corporate Communications,  NIMASA, Thursday in Lagos.

He said the agencies noted that fully automating processes at the country’s ports would go a long way in reducing human interface, delays and corruption.

He said they had agreed to harmonize the implementation of port and flag state administration to minimize direct human contact on board ships, calling at ports across the country in accordance with Nigerian Port Process Manual ( NPPM) provisions.

Jamoh noted that the agency’s operation was nearly 85% automated, adding that NIMASA had undertaken an internal harmonization exercise to reduce the human interface.

He explained that NIMASA was now fully ready for inter-agency harmonization and commended the NSC for the introduction of cargo tracking notes in port operations.

“Thank you for obtaining approval of the Cargo Tracking Note. This will reduce the loss of working hours and help expose non-reporting or under-reporting in the country’s ports and improve income generation, ”he said.

Regarding anchor safety, Jamoh said there had been a marked reduction in security breaches since Project Deep Blue took over security in close collaboration with the Nigerian Navy.

“We are starting to see a reduction in attacks in our waters, and we hope to maintain this and later demand a change in the status of the cost of insurance for ships visiting Nigerian waters.”

For his part, Mr. Hassan Bello, Executive Secretary of the NSC, said the cost of port operations in Nigeria  could be reduced by more than 35% when the standard operating procedures contained in the NPPM are fully implemented.

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“Our ports compete with other ports in the region, so we need to strengthen collaboration on establishing indicative freight rates,” he said.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched the NPPM on December 9, 2020 in Abuja on the International Anti-Corruption Day.

It is a set of processes drawn from standard operating procedures of port industry stakeholders aimed at improving port operations, uptime, efficiency and accountability.