Why Nigerian vessels can’t lift petroleum products midstream, by UAL MD -

By Godfrey Bivbere

Managing Director of Union Admiralty Ltd, UAL, Mr. Ibi Seddon, has blamed the dominance of foreign vessels in the lifting of refined petroleum products from mother ships offshore to storage facilities on the fact that Nigerian-owned ships are not sea-worthy.

Seddon, who spoke to Vanguard in Lagos, explained that despite the Cabotage Act which restricts trade within the nation’s coastal waters to Nigerian-owned vessels, product owners and owners of mother vessels still prefer foreign ships because Nigerian-owned ships are not in class, meaning that they failed to meet all the conditions, both in terms of maintenance and insurance, for engaging in international trade.

He said:
“There are very few Nigerian vessels that are up to date in their class, in their insurance and in their paper work that are involved in the transfer of refined products from offshore to storage facilities onshore.

“Some are having difficulties in connection with their insurance, their class or their paper work because the mother vessels, in most cases, may have one or two problems as a result of the torbulence of the sea, scratches and the certification of documentation. They cannot wait or hold each other hostage but they will depart and the P&I club (a group of insurance companies) will be able to settle the issue.

“So they insist on classed vessels, that means that the master and the crew are up to class and know what they are doing so as to minimize dispute between two vessels. In case of incidents like this, both parties would sign their papers and they would disperse, instead of a situation where one vessel would hold the other liable, insisting that he has to stay for one month or pay for the damage....