SEAFARERS DAY: Merchant Navy,MWUN, Master Mariners Raise Concerns Over CoC Quagmire 

By Roland Ekama

As the world set to commemorate on the annual Day of the Seafarers celebration globally on the 25th June, (today), Nigerian seafarers have raised concerns over the continued lack of acceptance of the Certificate of Competency  (CoC) issued by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), stressing the need for a comprehensive approach to finding lasting solution to the problem.

 

Speaking at the 2nd Annual Seafarers Colloquium organised by the Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association in collaboration in collaboration with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) to commemorate this year’s Day of the Seafarers in Lagos on Wednesday, National President of the Merchant Navy officers, Bob Joseph Yousuo noted that the restriction on the CoCs of Nigerian seafarers has deprived them of opportunities to be recognized globally.

While speaking with newsmen on the sideline of the event which had in attendance, cadets from public and private maritime institutions , retired seafarers and maritime agencies , the seasoned marine engineer said  “The call to address the CoC issue is long overdue.

 

He said “We have been discussing this issue with NIMASA every year. It is just a matter of putting the right structure in our maritime institutions and provision of training vessels and perhaps IMO can conduct inspection and prove that we are due to have unlimited certificates.

 

“Most of the certificates we have is Near Coastal Voyage which is limiting us to be recognized globally,” he said.

 

Yousuo urged NIMASA to have bilateral agreement with other maritime nations so as to recognise the CoC issued by Nigeria and reverse the worrisome trend.

 

He also stressed the need for provision of training vessels to address the problem of sea time training for cadets. In the alternative, according to him, local and foreign shipping lines doing business in the country should be mandated to take on board cadets for training.

 

“Most of the vessels operating here are cabotage vessels and we don’t have access to work on those vessels with our certificate because they feel the flag state does not recognise our certificate.

 

“But a serious government will mandate every country as they come into the country to make sure they recognise our certificate. We are not even talking about unlimited CoCs for now but the NCV we have.

 

“So, what we are telling the government and NIMASA is to make sure that they have bilateral agreement with more shipping lines so that when they come to work here, they will be able to accept our certificate instead of us going to Ghana because of the issue of acceptability.

 

If other countries can have their unlimited certificates, why can’t Nigeria have its own. “We are also urging NIMASA to mandate any vessel in Nigeria to carry at least two cadets onboard.

 

“They should make it a mandatory requirement for certification of Nigerian shipping companies. So, any vessel operating within Nigeria should have a minimum of two cadets for 18 months.

 

“With that, the huge number of cadets we have roaming the street with no sea time training will reduce,” he said.

 

On his part, President General of MWUN, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju extolled Nigerian seafarers who through their work contribute to keeping the ship of the maritime industry revolving under tough and sometimes extremely dangerous circumstances.

 

Adeyanju urged the government to consolidate its efforts by initiating and implementing processes and policies that would enable the upgrading of maritime institutions of training to enable them to come to par with global standards.

 

He further urged the government to enable many interested persons access to basic sea training and costs of acquiring medical certificate, endorsing CoCs, Seafarers Identity Document (SID) among others “We believe this will curb the need for our indigenous seafarers to travel to Malaysia, Ghana, India, Singapore, to obtain STCW 95 and other such sundry sea-going certifications.

 

” We also want to call the attention of the government and the relevant agencies on the need for the provision and or procurements of cadet training ships, which will afford our cadets-in training the opportunity to acquire real sea/ocean-going experience eventually providing valuable sea time exposure.,” he said.

 

Adeyanju expressed confidence in the ability of Nigerian seafarers to compete globally if neccessary action is taken just as he assured that the union will continue to promote the seafaring career of its members.

 

“We at Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria have and will always have seafarers’ interests at heart. Through our various interventions, the union has always been at the forefront in promoting the seafaring career of our members.

 

“We do believe that our seafarers have a great potential to develop professionally and compete with the very best in the international maritime crew labour market.

 

This is the reason why we will continue to endeavor to continue to invest in our seafarers,” he said.

 

Speaking on the theme for the 2022 Day of Seafarers, “Your Voyage, then and Now, Share your Journey,” President, National Association of Master Mariners, Captain Tajudeen Alao recalled seafarers voyages in the past and how it has evolved over the years.

 

He noted that while technology has impacted positively on the seafaring profession with acquisition of modern ships and few seafarers onboard as well as better wages, the challenge of rough seas and feeling of loneliness has remained unchanged.