Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has said the Federal Government will soon commence the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund to indigenous ship owners.
This is coming after a delay of the fund for 15 years.
Amaechi, who spoke at a stakeholders’ appreciation night organised by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in Lagos, said his ministry had finally received the approval of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to commence the disbursement of the fund by January 2020.
The CVFF is under the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency while the fund is being warehoused at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The CVFF scheme was introduced in 2004 mainly as contributions by shipowners and they are expected to access it to purchase new vessels as well as maintain the existing ones.
But indigenous ship owners have said none of them has been able to access the fund since its establishment.
Amaechi said, “I have got the approval to disburse the CVFF. I just want to use this opportunity to inform stakeholders that the President has approved the caboatge fund and by Tuesday, I will meet with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and NIMASA to look at the dynamics of the fund.
“In January, we will invite the operators for their proposals and to see the nature of their business and how they can get the aid. The President has given the approval and we will begin the process to disburse it by next year.”
He added that there would be another meeting with the agencies in January.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Ports Authority has said it will in two weeks’ time begin the interception of vessels to inspect their compliance with the Ballast Water Convention.
The BWC is an instrument of the International Maritime Organisation designed to check the intake of water by ships.
The Senior Manager, Environment, NPA, Mr Sani Shehu, made this known at a capacity building workshop in Lagos.
He said the authority before now had not commenced the inspection because it did not have the wherewithal.
He said that the authority would be targeting especially vessels from Europe, an area known for high level of pathogens, as well as vessels plying coastal trade in Africa.
Shehu defined ballast water as water taken into the bottom of the vessel to provide weight and for the purpose of increasing additional stability.
He said this water taken from one area to another could be a vector through which harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens are transferred from one place to another.
He was quoted by Trend News as saying, “The NPA has spent so much money constructing its laboratory to test the waters. The treatment facility would be used by the NPA to attend to all conventions.
“In the whole of Africa, Nigeria is the only country that has stepped up its ballast water compliance with the acquisition of this sediment treatment plant, other countries cannot afford it because it is expensive.”
He gave the assurance that the NPA would inaugurate the sediment treatment facility in two weeks’ time.
He said, “For safety of ships and oil tankers, ballast water is required to maintain stability throughout their voyages especially when empty or having insufficient load.”
