NIMASA set to review Shipwreck removal process to record more efficiency—DG
Having observed the rising volume of abandoned but wrecked vessels dotting virtually all the territorial water bodies, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr Dakuku Peterside has said the Agency will revisit the procedure of wreck removal from Nigerian waterways.
The DG who made this declaration while speaking at a forum in Abuja, said the review of the wreck removal process became inevitable, in order to enhance the efficiency of the process.
According to him “NIMASA is working under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Transportation to review wreck removal process in order to make Nigerian navigable waters safer for navigation by all. Once we get the consent of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, we will put out Marine Notice to that effect.”
Dr Dakuku noted that the Nairobi convention provides for the process via which a ship can be declared a wreck adding that the agency had been following the law diligently.
While acknowledging that the challenge of wreck on Nigerian waterways is a challenge inherited by the current administration at NIMASA, the NIMASA DG assured Nigerians that the implementation of the reviewed process will serve as a catalyst to boost wreck removal from Nigerian waterways.a
