Could the Association of (Nigerian) Maritime Engineers (AMES) have been economical with the truth, when it addressed journalists last Tuesday in Lagos, and claimed that Nigeria is no longer on the White List of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
At the press conference, which held at the International Maritime Press Centre, Apapa, AMES also claimed that, apart from Egypt and South Africa, there were no other African countries on the current IMO White List.
However, a copy each of the current IMO White List forwarded to SHIPS & PORTS DAILY by two top officials of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may have given the lie to both claims by AMES.
Both copies of the IMO White List offered by Capts. Ibrahim Olugbade and Enisuoh Warredi, respectively, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative at the IMO; and Director, Maritime Safety and Shipping Standards, NIMASA, revealed that Nigeria retained her place on the IMO White List.
According to both copies of the IMO White List sent to SHIPS & PORTS DAILY by the NIMASA duo, there are a total of 20 African countries on the White List.
Apart from Nigeria, other African countries on the IMO White List include Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, and Libya.
Others are: Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia, and United Republic of Tanzania.
The White List is a list of countries assessed by the IMO, as properly implementing the STCW-95 Convention, the International Convention on Standards of Training and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, which came into force in 1995.
Below is the IMO White List sent to SHIPS & PORTS DAILY:
ANNEX
Parties to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as amended, confirmed by the Maritime Safety Committee to have communicated information which demonstrates that full and complete effect is given to the relevant provisions of the Convention
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