Nigeria Trains Sierra Leone Port State Control Officers on Ship Inspection

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has commenced a ten day training programme for  Port State Control Officers from Sierra Leone Maritime Administration (SLMA) in Lagos.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Captain Sunday Umoren,Secretary General of the Memorandum Of Understanding

On Port State Control For West And Central African Region, also known as Abuja MoU, described the mentor-mentee programme as timely for harmonisation of standards

Umoren who described port state control activities as very critical to observing safety of human lives and preventing maritime accidents added that standardised inspection regime conserves aquatic life, prevent pollution and addresses issues relating to consuming contaminated seafood.

The Abuja MoU Secretary General For harmonization of Port State Control (PSC) to be achieved, MoUs are to work towards ensuring that the same standard of inspection is meted on foreign ships by port State control officers in their local ports within the region.

Umoren said a properly sreamlined port state and flag state standard will reduce the incidents of substandard vessels calling at any of the ports under member states of the Abuja MoU.

According to him “The harmonisation process has now been upped to standardisation beyond regional to global level which means that a vessel is subjected to the same level of scrutiny in all the regions and thus NO WEAK-LINK in the world.

Harmonisation in its simplistic definition means same performance and knowledge level. The aforesaid can only achieved through effective capacity building.

Why do you build capacity? It eliminates  dependency relationship and encourages the mentees to take ownership and be empowered to  gain greater control over their own future development.

In analysing the influencing factors of inspection that lead to detention using  a Bayesian network model  and a six years dataset with a total inspection of 178,153 from 2010 to 2015,   The flag State, ship type, recognized organization, inspection authority and ship age where highlighted as critical factors. Of the Critical factors, the flag State was noted as having the greatest greatest influence. How is this story related to our program today?

“For harmonization of Port State Control (PSC) to be achieved, MoUs are to work towards ensuring that the same standard of inspection is meted on foreign ships by port State control officers in their local ports within the region.

The harmonisation process has now been upped to standardisation beyond regional to global level which means that a vessel is subjected to the same level of scrutiny in all the regions and thus NO WEAK-LINK in the world.

While commending Dr Bashir Jamoh, Director General of NIMASA for availing  Nigeria’s expertise to the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration, he thanked the Sierralonians for their willingness to learn

He added that it is expected that the Abuja MoU facilitate a combined training of Port State Control officers within the region, using a combined dataset and database system across the West and Central African region such as the Abuja MoU Information System (AMIS) which is currently in use, useand the Global Integrated Ship Information System (GISIS) of the International Maritime Organization amongst others.

This Mentor-Mentee programme is a Scheme to provide technical support through on-the-job training, and cross-pollination of ideas for the overall improvement of PSC inspections in the region, towards eliminating substandard ships, ensuring safety, humane treatment and employment of seafarers, protecting our marine environment and related maritime assets.

“The scheme is a mutually beneficial relationship for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration. It will help build ties and offer networking opportunities for the inspectors in both countries. It is also a learning and development opportunity for both entities. The best refresher course is in teaching because you can be challenged by a student. Teaching is the most effective form of leaning. And thus both the mentor and mentee are in for a learning session” he said

Engr. Victor Ochei, NIMASA Executive Director in charge of Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services who represented the Director General assured of Nigeria’s support to sister maritime administrations in the region

Participants at the training will undergo class room lectures, field practicals, experience sharing , questions and answers including interactive seasions