NIMASA: When Shippers Expect Benefits of Piracy War Victory
DR. JAMOH
The trending news about the fall in piracy both in Nigeria’s territorial waters and Gulf of Guinea has continued to excite Nigerians. This is for obvious reasons. It will go a long way in affecting positively shipping charges which over the years have been high as multinational shipping agencies take their palm of flesh on shippers over security issues in Nigeria and GoG. It has been a kind of blackmail by multinational shipping lines under the platform of conference liners over security issues in the sub-region. It could either be general issues of insecurity arising from tension during general elections or piracy, armed robbery on territorial waters and GoG. It could also be surcharge over congestions in the ports. About four years ago, the shipping service providers were at it with a number of surcharges on imports destined for Nigeria and other West African sub-region. The surcharges came under the titles of peak season surcharge (PSS); extra risk insurance (ERI)/carrier security fee (CSF) surcharge; congestion surcharge (CS); freight tax surcharge (FTS); operations cost recovery (OCR); low sulphur surcharge (LSS); B.A.F (bunker adjustment surcharge) and C.A.F. (currency adjustment surcharge). Confronted with this, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as the ports economic regulator, had fought against this, describing some of the surcharges as unapplicable in Nigeria. The Council had mobilized members of the United African Shippers Council (UASC) against the surcharges. The UASC in turn mobilized other members against the surcharges at an international summit in Abuja. At that global event were key members of the Global Shippers Forum (GSF). After listening to the protests from Nigeria and other West African countries, the GSF had invited members of UASC to another meeting in London where members of conference liners were also invited. Nigeria and other UASC members attended the meeting where the issue was presented. Surprisingly, at the meeting conference liners denied some of the charges as the handiwork of their shipping agents at resident ports/countries. The NSC and other African countries had confronted these shipping agents who had to some level retrace their steps on some of the surcharges. But that was not the end of the problem as the multinational shipping agents less than two years later again came up with some of the charges which they blamed on piracy on Nigerian waters and GoG, among others. They had pointed out that most of the ships coming to the sub-region had to engage armed guards on board, an arrangement they argued meant huge costs on voyage. Sometime in 2020, the peak period charges of between $1000 and $1,500 were collected on 20-foot containers or equivalent unit. This was over 400 per cent rise from the $200 freight charge per teu at peak period. Among the multinational agencies then allegedly fingered in the surcharges were Cosco, Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Hapag Lloyd and Evergreen shipping. The ports economic regulator fought against this before the issue was rested.
Suffice it to say that it was at this stage that the OMSL Limited, a private security outfit providing security for ships coming to Nigeria took advantage of the scenario. The company introduced a security arrangement for ships coming to Nigeria as the issue of piracy heightened. The company was collecting between $2,500 and $1,500.00 from ships on daily basis at Secure Anchorage Area (SAA).This went on until government intervened and cancelled the contract. During this period, Nigerian shippers were compelled to pay more as the shipowners had to charge more to be able to recover the cost of engaging armed guards on board on payment to stay at SAA.
Deep Blue Project
Side by side with the controversial SAA security arrangement then was the Deep Blue project by NIMASA. The emphasis on the project, among others, is to provide security on the nation’s waters as well as the GoG. Under the deep blue project, the federal government has invested heavily through NIMASA. Among the infrastructure provided for the deep blue project include 16 armoured vehicles for coastal patrol, two special mission vessels, 17 fast interceptor boats, two special mission aircraft for surveillance of Nigeria’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), three special mission helicopters for search and rescue operations and four unmanned aerial vehicles. The job of the mission vessels is to monitor shipping activities on the waters. The vessels are expected to remain at sea for 35 days to monitor illegal activities , including dumping of toxic wastes, illegal fishing , smuggling and oil bunkering. President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the SPOMO Bill targeted at checking piracy in Nigeria and GoG. At the formal launch of the project in Lagos last year Buhari said he was optimistic that the deep blue project will address all forms of maritime crime. He said the issue of piracy in the West African sub-region required synergy among nations of GoG to safeguard the waterways. The President was right as the piracy issue has been rested courtesy of NIMASA and affiliates.
Impact
The impact of the deep blue project has been tremendous going by the global reports on piracy. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its report for last year released early this year pointed an “overall reduction in reported incidents in 2021 in other countries and GoG. The report said there was a decrease from 81 reported incidents in 2020 to 34 in 2021.
Part of the report reads, “The IMB commends the robust actions of the international navies and regional authorities in the Gulf of Guinea which appears to have positively contributed to the drop in reported incidents and ensuring continued safety to crews and trade,”, according to IMB Director, Michael Howlett. He added, “While the IMB applauds these actions it further calls on the coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea to increase their collaboration and physical presence in their waters to ensure a long term and sustainable solution to address the crime of piracy and armed robbery in the region”
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh in reaction to the impact of the measures against piracy and other forms of armed robbery on waters said, “NIMASA has put in tremendous efforts to mitigate the tide of maritime insecurity in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea through several maritime domain awareness interventions and collaborative efforts.
“The implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code has steadily impacted on the level of security in the nation’s port areas and facilities.”
Global Commendations
With the good results coming from the efforts of Nigeria in fighting piracy within and in the GoG, the international maritime community has been happy about this development and also full of commendation for Nigeria. Both the United Nations and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) have not hidden their joy over this development even as they call for sustained efforts. In January this year, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Fathi Wali, commended Nigeria for this effort. Speaking in New York , he pointed out that the collaboration between Nigeria and UNODC has been very positive, adding that this has been shown by the Global Maritime Crime Programme and the Strategic Vision for Africa launched in 2021. This, Wali said has made other international organisations to extend helping hands in the war against piracy instead of leaving it for the regional organizations alone. The apex global maritime regulatory body, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) had also in June last year commended Nigeria for the Deep Blue project. IMO said it was pleased with Nigeria’s leading role in securing the GoG. The agency said it will continue to support Nigeria and the region in respect of this effort. The Secretary General of IMO, Kitack Lim said Nigeria has indeed made important contributions in the fight against piracy both within and in the GoG.
Our Victory Against Piracy, by Jamoh
With the successes recorded against piracy, the NIMASA DG, Jamoh, has explained that this has been as a result of collaborative efforts between his agency and other security agencies. As at February statistics released by the IMB showed further drop in piracy incidents in the GoG. According to International Maritime Bureau (IMB) there has not been any case of vessel hijack in Nigerian waters in the first half of 2022. The ICC and IMB also confirmed that the first half of 2022 witnessed the least cases of piracy globally in 28 years with only 58 reported cases as compared to 68 within same period in 2021. The report added that of the 58 incidents, two were classified as Piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, with none occurring in Nigerian waters. Jamoh said this was because of deliberate collaborative efforts involving NIMASA, Nigerian Navy and other stakeholders in the West African sub-region.
Effect on Shipping Charges
To Nigerian shippers and stakeholders, the news of defeat on piracy is a good development that will impact on shipping charges. A shipper and maritime lawyer, Mr Emmanuel Ofomata while expressing delight that the deep blue project has hit pirates hard said the war should be sustained for more far- reaching effect. He said that the continued reduction in the activities of sea robbers or pirates will promote Nigeria’s international trade as well as those of the West African sub-region. “ It will be good news for the international trading community particularly the conference liners who have over the years spent so much providing armed guards on ships for each voyage. It would also mean that multinational shipping agents will have no reason to raise all sorts of shipping surcharges. But above all is that Nigeria can challenge effectively shipping lines introducing arbitrary charges who would always blame it on either piracy or for other reasons ”, Ofomata said. He commended the NIMASA DG for all the efforts so far, adding that he should continue to partner all the relevant stakeholders for a sustained fight against piracy. He said, “piracy is a global issue and Nigeria should continue to reach out to all international stakeholders for collaboration in the fight. What we have witnessed in the GoG is not something that Nigeria and other West African sub-region should handle alone, the cooperation of other friendly countries should be sought so that pirates are completely driven out of business in the GoG. The positive impact to international shipping cannot be over-emphasised”.
The former Executive Secretary of the NSC, Dr. Hassan Bello, was also full of commendation for NIMASA for the good efforts in reducing piracy in Nigeria and GoG. Bello also said this should reflect on the shipping charges by conference liners in terms of lowering it. Bello said, “NIMASA is doing what it is supposed to do. So, I think the cost of shipping to Nigeria will go down. Consequently we will not have such charges like war risk clauses and all that because security is getting better”.
On the other hand, the NIMASA DG expressed optimism that the current situation as it affects piracy will also impact on shipping charges positively. He said, “It is heart-warming that the international maritime community is acknowledging the progress made so far. It is a direct result of collaboration amongst national, regional and non-regional stakeholders. It is our hope that this trend will be sustained and very soon, we will start reaping the benefits such as a change of status concerning the Insurance premium paid on Nigerian bound cargoes; the War Risk premium being paid at the moment. We hope this status will change very soon”.
Ends…..
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