The management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has called on stakeholders and government agencies to close ranks and be cautious as 13 vessels from five countries heavily affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic set to berth on the nation’s shores.
Eight of the vessels are expected to berth in Apapa, Lagos; four in Bonny, Rivers State and one in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Information about the vessels, expected to arrive the three Nigerian ports between June 23 and July 17 was received through the Command, Control, Communication, Computer and Intelligence System (C4i) Centre under the NIMASA ‘Deep Blue Project’, also called the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure.
The agency’s director-general, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, said the need to ensure stakeholders adhered strictly to the guidelines put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria informed the decision to flag the vessels’arrival.
“We are counting on the continued cooperation of frontline government agencies and private sector operators in this regard, as we jointly wage the war against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jamoh stated.
Jamoh said the advisory was to further alert all agencies of government and private sector operators at the ports of expected arrival of the vessels and to demand the highest level of professionalism from all concerned officers in keeping with the agency’s earlier advice on the handling of such vessels. He added that operators at the ports should ensure all safety measures and precautions in the best interest of the maritime community and the country were fully applied.
NIMASA had earlier given an advisory through a marine notice on the operational procedures for the ingress and egress of vessels arriving from such countries. Officers of agencies concerned were requested to immediately report any situation or circumstance that might compromise best practices in handling the arrival and discharge of these vessels and others that might be advised in the future.
According to the agency, the expected vessels are Ebony Ray (USA), Nord Supreme (United Kingdom), Gaslog Warsaw (Spain), Desert Peace (USA), Shanghai Eagle (Spain), Katrina Theresa (Spain), Harmonic (Spain), Desert Hope (Brazil), Stena Clear Sky (India), Musky (USA), Vectis Osprey (USA), Grande Island (USA) and the LNG Bonny II (India).
