The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Maritime and Ports Authority (MPA) of Singapore will collaborate in tapping maritime investment potential in both countries.
A statement by the Head of Public Relations of NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, on Tuesday in Lagos, noted that the Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside, stated this on the sideline of the Maritime Regulators Forum ongoing in Singapore.
“Peterside met his counterpart at the MPA of Singapore, Mr. Andrew Tan, where they both pledged to collaborate for the benefit of both countries,” the statement noted.
The director-general said that Nigeria had huge maritime potential, which had remained untapped and called on Singaporean investors to take advantage of the reform in Nigeria’s maritime sector to invest in the country.
He also requested for partnership with the Singaporean authorities in various areas including technology acquisition for monitoring the waterways.
Peterside also talked about capacity building of personnel; support to upgrade maritime infrastructure as well as acquisition of more ocean-going vessels for indigenous operators.
He assured Singaporean investors and indeed the global community of NIMASA’s commitment toward enforcement of all International Maritime Organisation (IMO) instruments for which Nigeria was a signatory.
The director-general said that NIMASA would also build the requisite capacity of personnel and infrastructure for the execution of its mandate.
He said that clean and safe oceans and security of ships operating in Nigerian waters remained a top priority.
Tan described Nigeria as the new destination for future maritime investments.
He said that there was no institutional relationship between Nigeria and Singapore, despite the fact that Singapore was the second busiest and first trans-shipment port in the world.
Tan also described Nigeria as a major maritime hub in West and Central Africa.
The MPA chief suggested that Nigeria could benefit from Singapore’s well-developed and excess maritime capacity while Singapore could also benefit from Nigeria’s huge market.
He, therefore, invited NIMASA to take advantage of the several programmes available in MPA Academy of Singapore to build capacity of its personnel and leverage on Singapore’s ship building and maintenance expertise.
Tan said that this would enable many Nigerian maritime players to own their own vessels.
He also suggested a new level of cooperation between the two parties at IMO meetings. (NAN)
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