New Telegraph

NIMASA anticipates end to war risk insurance

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International shipping community had acknowledged the progress made by Nigeria in curtailing in security

 

Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that a sustained reduction in reported cases of piracy and other maritime crimes in Nigerian waters will end the regime of war risk insurance premium on Nigeria-bound cargoes.

 

The Director General of the agency, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, disclosed this when he received the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Hon. Emmanuel Jime, who led a delegation from the council on a courtesy visit to NIMASA headquarters in Lagos.

 

He explained that the international shipping community had acknowledged the progress made by Nigeria in her quest for security in the Gulf of Guinea as confirmed by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB)’s report.

 

In a statement by the agency’s Assistant Director, Public Rela-tions, Osagie Edwards, the director general noted that the sharp decrease in maritime incidents logged in IMB’s second quarter report was a valuable feedback on the NIMASA’s campaign for Nigeria’s delisting from countries under the war risk insurance burden, and an indication that the shipping community looked forward to sustenance of the progress made.

 

 

Jamoh said: “Feedback on our campaign for Nigeria to be removed from countries paying war risk insurance premium on inbound cargoes has confirmed that the international shipping community is watching developments in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea with keen interest.

 

“Their desire is to see a sustainability of the positive developments in recent times leading to a drastic decline in piracy attacks in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.

 

“Since the deployment of the Deep Blue Project assets in February, 2021, there has been a steady decline in piracy attacks in Nigerian waters on a monthly basis. “With adequate sensitisation of the international shipping community, I am sure that our quest to be removed from nations considered to have dangerous waters will soon materialise for the benefit of Nigerian shippers.”

 

Reacting, Jime called for greater collaboration among relevant government agencies to enable the country derive the full economic benefits of the maritime sector.

 

He commended NIMASA for placing fleet expansion at the heart of her efforts to encourage indigenous participation in the maritime industry.

 

The executive secretary stressed that there was no better time to have a national carrier than now, when the world was gradually looking away from fossil fuels, the current mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

 

He explained: “Nigeria cannot be caught unawares. We need to look at ways of developing our shipping sector, which, from studies, is capable of earning the country even more than oil annually.

 

Maritime security is pivotal to achieving this goal.” In a similar development, stakeholders in the aviation industry recently disclosed that insurance premium on aircraft doing business in Nigeria would be cut down soon following the massive infrastructure development in the sector.

 

According to them, the relative improvement in airport infrastructure, air traffic control management and the strict regulation by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)  could see aircraft insurance premiums drop as insurance cover for aviation in Nigeria and particularly Africa is said to be astronomical.

 

Director, Policy and Regulation, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Leo Akah, argued that the rates they charge airlines were not derived from Nigeria but from the same United Kingdom (UK) market, hinting that, “I don’t know the basis for that.

 

He disclosed that the commission would make a big policy statement on the matter in a few days time pertaining to insinuations that insurance firms would kill off Nigerian airline operators.

 

According to him, “however, the commission will make a pronouncement on this matter very shortly because we need to address it. The commission as a body will make pronouncements on it.”

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