Seafarers: NIMASA Raises Concerns Over Rate of Failure in CoC Exams
DR. JAMOH
*Inspects 1,164 vessels in 2021
By Francis Ugwoke
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Friday expressed deep worries over the rate of failures by Nigerian seafarers who sat for the Certificate of Competency (CoC) examinations in the past two years.
This was as the agency also announced an increase of 32.4 per cent in its activities in respect of Flag State and Port State last year compared with the level attained the previous year.
In a scorecard presented to newsmen, the Director-General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, disclosed that under the officers cadre, out of 829 who sat for the examination in 2020, 565 did not pass in what represented a 68 percent failure.
Jamoh said a total number of certificates revalidated for 2021was 246, adding that it has also revived its online seafarers Certificates of Competency verification platform to enable shipowners have access to confirm the genuineness of seafarers COC as necessary for employment.
Expressing dismay over this development, the DG however said the agency was liaising with various institutions to see how this issue can be addressed.
He attributed the failure rate to a number of factors but expressed optimism that this could be overcome before June this year.
He added, “For Officers ratings, the total number that sat for the exams were 1,251, out of this, 926 passed, representing 74% passed.
The total number of candidates that failed is 325, representing 26% failure.
“The examination for ratings in 2021, the total number of students who sat for the exams are 1,327, this is a sharp increase against the 2020 figure of 1,251.
The total number of candidates passed is 990 forming also 74% passed.
Total number of candidates failed is 337 with a percentage of failure of 26%”
On the introduction of online verification platforms on certificates, the DG said this has been able to check forgery and boost employment of Nigerian seafarers.
“We have been experiencing rejection and discrimination against Nigerian seafarers by shipowners both locally and internationally, this is why the agency decided to introduce the online seafarers certificates of Competency verification platform which allowed shipowners to access these candidates that passed our examinations directly from the comfort of their offices.
“With this, we reduced the forgery of our certificates and improved the standard and confidence of our certification” .
On achievements, the DG said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been able to record an increase of 32.4 percent in the level port state control in 2021 when compared with the level in 2020.
The DG said the agency inspected and surveyed a total number of 1,164 vessels last year under the Flag State control(FSC) and Port State control(PSC) .
This was against 786 vessels surveyed and inspected in 2020, he said.
This, he explained was a clear indication of the seriousness attached to flag state survey.
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