Adalikwu Seeks Improved Safety for Ferry Operation in West, Central Africa
... Expresses MOWCA's Drive for Marine Accident Prevention
The Secretary General of Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) , Dr. Paul Adalikwu has said the Regional Ferry Safety Conference which has maritime stakeholders and agencies in attendance is a gathering of not just professionals but a global community united by a shared commitment which is to ensure that ferry transport is not only efficient and accessible, but also safe.
While giving his welcome remark at the conference in Lagos themed “Charting safer waters, advancing ferry safety through innovation, collaboration and integrated transport solutions”, he recalled that in 2024, MOWCA in partnership with the government of Gabon and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) organized a regional workshop on safety of inland waterway transport and ferry accident in Libreville, Republic of Gabon.
According to him, the event was used to add a voice of concern to the Esther Miracle ferry accident in that country in the year 2023 in particular, and generally used to address, at a larger scale, issues of maritime/ferry safety in the sub region, as this aligns with the mandate of his organization, on maritime safety.He said the outcome of that workshop was the production of the Libreville Action Plan document that will be discussed in the course the conference that is holding from June 25 to June 26, 2025.
Adalikwu said as recognizing the vital role that ferry services play in connecting communities, supporting local economies and providing essential mobility across rivers, lakes, and seas, MOWCA was privileged to attend the 48th edition of the Interferry Conference held in the city of Marrakech, Republic of Morocco in October, 2024.The conference provided an opportunity to meet global industry majors like Interferry and other ferry operators.
The event was used to escalate discussions on issues of high ferry accidents/incidences in the MOWCA subregion with particular emphasis to countries like Nigeria, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amongst others.
He stated that there was a mutual agreement to host a conference that focuses on ferry safety operations and Lagos State was picked to host the conference. This choice was according to him was further predicated on the fact that Lagos is a cosmopolitan city that operates multimodal system transport services and has 22% water coverage area, with an average of about 60,000 daily commuters crisscrossing the main land and islands. It also acknowledged that the State had put in place a robust water transport authority, The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA).
The MOWCA Secretary General affirmed that the idea is to gather stakeholders in Lagos to under study their model, align it with emerging global best practices and explore areas of improvement that will make ferry services safe and attractive options for human and service mobility.
He thanked the Lagos State Government and the Lagos State Water Authority (LASWA) Management for taking the opportunity even at short notice without budgetary provision to host the two (2) day conference in the ever-bustling city of Eko and showcase what they are doing.
