By Chiazo Ogbolu
The NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Ltd. has employed more than 6,000 seafarers, as a way to encourage the youth in shipping career.
The Chief Executive Officer of NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Ltd., Mr Abdul-Kadir Ahmed, said this at the 2023 Lagos International Maritime Week (LIMWeek 2023) organised by the ZOE Maritime Resources Ltd., in Lagos on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the week had the theme: ”MARPOL at 50 – Pollution from Ships, Africa’s Commitment to Clean Oceans Seas, Inland Waters and the Marine Environment.
MARPOL is an international convention for the prevention of pollution from ships.
According to Ahmed, NLNG encourages youths to tap into the potential in the marine sector by encouraging them to be gainfully employed in the sector.
He said that, as regard adopting the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards on MARPOL Convention, NLNG vessels were designed and built to the specification.
“NLNG has been able to design a system on its vessels to ensure that they fully comply with MARPOL Convention.
“We ensure that we operate within the limit by developing a system to ensure that all our vessels comply 100 per cent with MARPOL regulations.
“We engage in treatment of waste, ballast water requirements,” Ahmed said.
He urged port operators to understand the implications and provisions of the MARPOL Convention and the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLA).
According to him, domestication of the convention should not only mean passing the provisions into laws but should ensure how industry key players would drive compliance.
Ahmed said that industry players had a role to play in enforcement, noting that NLNG had embarked on a ‘cleaning’ initiative.
Mr Temisan Omatseye, a former Director- General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said that there was need to apply professionalism in addressing ship pollutions on the waters.
Omatseye said that only competent persons would effect desired changes in any society.
” Nigeria’s saving grace is that she does not have a major disaster on its waters.
“The moment that happens, the country will be in a mess, and the ecosystem would fail,” he said.
According to Omatseye, Nigeria has qualified people in the maritime sector and should not allow nepotism and lack of professionalism to rule organisations.
“Rather than put professionals, we are putting people that are not qualified to be in certain positions, politicising positions.
“ We must get to a situation whereby people are allowed to stay on a career path so that they can apply for international postings,” he said.
According to him, only one Nigerian is at IMO at the moment.
“We cannot become local champions in Africa, we must become international champions on international fields,” he said.
NAN reports that LIMweek is a platform for learning, networking and scope expansion in the maritime sector. (NAN)
