New Telegraph

Why NLNG ships aren’t registered in Nigeria –Ahmed

Nigeria LNG Ship Management Limited (NMSL), a subsidiary of Nigeria LNG Limited operates over 12 state of the art LNG vessels which are all registered in Bermuda.

 

But the company has said that it has a 10 year plan to improve its current 83 per cent Nigerian maritime manpower to 100 per cent by 2022.

 

Managing Director, AbdulKadir Ahmed said during a media parley in Lagos that having achieved bringing in international expertise into the nation’s maritime industry in the first decade of the existence of the company; it now targets 100 per cent Nigerian manpower for the company.

 

He disclosed that the company, which is Nigeria’s highest employer of seafarers with additional strength of over 60 shore based staff, started as an NLNG in-house ship management company in 2010 and has evolved into provision of manning service, terminal management, fleet management, maritime consultancy services and enhanced capacity building with the creation of a Maritime Center of Excellence (MCOE) based in Bonny Island, Rivers State.

 

With its managed Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) vessels plying all maritime routes under Bermuda Flag for global acceptability, Ahmed said its parent company produces an average of 400 cargoes annually.

 

On the technical management of vessels, Ahmed said they are 12 in number where 11 are Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and one is Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). He said NMSL has attracted and will continue to source for competent Nigerian professionals with enviable certifications to sustain and improve on its world class standard operation in the maritime industry.

 

Nigerianisation

 

In the beginning, the purpose and intent when NSML was set up was Nigerianisation. It was set up as a manning company, recognising that we are a Nigerian company playing a role in providing opportunities for Nigerians.

 

The initial vessels were managed and manned by foreigners, even as the idea was setting up an entity that would train people, so that we can slowly take over. If my numbers serve me correctly, we had 16 officers when we started to the extent that we were almost 300 with half of them Nigerians.

 

So the Nigerianisation objective started from the beginning and we can see the trajectory of growth; where today we are talking about having a 100 per cent by 2022. We are currently at 53 per cent of Nigerian officers.

 

Hundred per cent of the ratings onboard our vessels are Nigerians and more than 60 per cent of officers onboard these vessels are also Nigerians.

 

Why Bermuda Flag

 

The BGT vessels are all flagged in Bermuda, and there is a reason for that. Firstly, it is the financing of those vessels. They were internationally financed, and usually, financiers will like vessels flagged at recognised Flag State, and that is where Bermuda is.

 

The second element is a work in progress, as we are working with NIMASA with regards to that. It is really about building and developing the capacity of the regulatory agency in Nigeria to ensure that it becomes recognised and accepted.

 

Most importantly for a shipping company, what you want is for your vessel to be accepted everywhere it goes. So the flagging of vessels in Nigeria is a desire and a national objective, and we at NSML are happy to key into that.

 

It requires a lot of work and all hands on deck to ensure that we work together to build the agency to such a stage where the Nigerian flag will be accepted internationally and then, that is when you will have vessels being flagged in Nigeria and accepted, because it is not just about flagging.

 

You want to flag your vessels, but you also want it to be accepted wherever it goes. If you flag your vessel in Nigeria and it is not accepted anywhere else, then what have you done? So for us it is really about international acceptance.

 

We are working together with all the stakeholders to ensure that we actually achieve that goal. It is a process that has started and we believe that with the current management of NIMASA, it will be achieved.

 

Relationship with maritime academy in Oron

 

The relationship with MAN, Oron, which is a relationship that we have had for quite a while, is one that has continued. Nigerian LNG as a group has provided a lot of support to the Maritime Academy in Oron, not only in terms of technical equipment, but equally in terms of training and connections with reputable international maritime institutions.

 

For example, there is an ongoing relationship with Warsash so that you build the capacity and ensure that the certification that comes out of that academy is accepted internationally.

 

Similar to the Nigerian flag issue, it is an ongoing activity obviously driven primarily by NIMASA, but everybody is supporting it.

 

And we at NSML and also within the group continue to participate in that and we will definitely continue to provide whatever is needed or support required so that the institution can be upgraded.

 

Assisting cadets have their sea time

 

About the contribution to the training of cadets on our vessels, I think that is a perennial challenge, not just within Nigeria but globally because beyond just your certification going through the maritime academies, you also need to have sea time to be able to finalise and get your certification, and that was something we realised. NSML as a company started out training and giving cadets the opportunity to sail onboard our vessels so that they can get their final certification.

 

We are now working with NIMASA under the seafarers continuous development programme to give sea time opportunity to qualified seafarers that have gone through the maritime institute but need the required sea time so that they can finalise their certification

 

So far, we have been able to give over 100 cadets’ sea time opportunities onboard our vessels to get their certification.

 

That is something we are happy about and we also appreciate the important role NIMASA has played in that respect. And as we go on, the activity continues, so that we can provide sea time for young seafarers who need it for their certification.

 

But then it goes beyond that. It is also about providing opportunities for them to be gainfully employed. NSML within the limit of our requirement as the single largest employer of qualified seafarers in Nigeria will continue to absorb as many as we can within the limit of our requirements.

 

Maritime center of excellence (MCOE)

 

On Maritime Centre of Excellence (MCOE) and the cost of training, let me explain something. Normally with seafaring, there is a basic qualification which is what Maritime institutions actually provide.

 

So MAN, Oron and other various training academies in Nigeria train and provide certifications for various elements of ratings, and even those international ones like Warsash in the UK and the Philippines.

 

Those are institutions that provide foundational training that require you to be certified as a seafarer. What MCOE provides is that step forward – the additional step. We are not providing the foundation.

 

The people we attract are those that have gone through the foundational course and have acquired the certificate of proficiency and competence and are now seafarers, but they need additional knowledge to upgrade their skill level to manage and operate vessels internationally.

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