The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has commenced the issuance of new certificates of ship registration while simultaneously phasing out the old ones.
A statement by the agency said the move is to ensure the utilisation of secured statutory certificates and prevent the entry of unseaworthy and sub-standard ships into the Nigerian flag.
The new regulation, which took effect from July 1, involves the certificate of Nigerian registry, provisional certificate of registry, certificate of Nigerian registry for bareboat chartered vessel, fishing boat and certificate of cabotage ship registry for wholly owned Nigerian vessels, among others.
The statement said all existing certificates issued by the Registrar of Ships before the commencement of the new regulation remain valid and should be carried on board vessels until their expiration, “but vessel owners or masters may apply for the reissuance of their existing certificates”.
NIMASA said issuance of the certificates is a fulfillment of Section 30 of the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 which provides that “the Registrar of Ships shall on completion of the registration of a ship, issue a certificate of registration in such form as may be approved by the agency”.
Director General of the Agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said, “We are restructuring the Nigerian ship registration office to serve you more efficiently and effectively. We are determined to grow our national fleet and tonnage to an enviable height.
“We are committed to ensuring that our ship registry remains of International Standard and this is why we have enhanced our certificates with more security features that would stand the test of time. The all-encompassing process of issuance will ensure robust screening of vessels that would visit our waters.”
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