Dr Dakuku Peterside, the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), says a national carrier is being developed with a view to boosting freight haulage and creating job opportunities.
Peterside disclosed this at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
It would be recalled that a Committee for the Actualization of the National Carrier was set up by the Ministry of Transportation.
Pacific International Lines (PIL), a Singaporean company, is expected to own 40 per cent of the stake, private Nigerian ship operators are expected to own the other 60 per cent.
“National Carrier is indeed a status conferred on a shipping line by a country. In our case the law says on the recommendation of NIMASA to the Minister of Transport, you can be designated a National Carrier and what distinguishes a National Carrier from others is the set of incentives you enjoy when get designated a national carrier.
“So what actually we are developing is a Nigeria Flag National Fleet and in this particular instance, the model that we are working on is for private investors to bring their funds and the Federal Ministry of Transportation is a facilitator of the Nigerian fleet or the Nigerian owned National fleet or indigenous fleet.
“In our case, we have identified a core investor, Pacific International Line as core investor of the proposed National Fleet.
“Why are we in the business of National Fleet? Because it comes with a lot of advantages that nobody can ignore. The first and most important one is that it provides opportunity for people who are skilled to be employed.
“It provides opportunity for our people to receive requisite training. It also enhances revenue that we earn through the maritime sector.
“So those are some of the advantages aside from National pride that we convey most of our cargo, is also an advantage.’’
Peterside said the agency was also working on a set of incentives that would make it attractive for people to invest in the indigenous shipping line.
Before now, there was the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL).
NNSL was liquidated in September 1995 and its assets were assumed by the newly formed National Unity Line (NUL).
The NUL, fully owned by the Nigeria Maritime Authority, began commercial operations in July 1996 as Nigeria’s national flag carrier. with just one ship, MV Abuja.
In August 2005, the government put the NUL up for sale.
The High cost of maintaining the vessels as well and poor management were reasons for the collapse of the NNSL and NUL.
Peterside said that the agency had learnt from past mistakes, thus the collobaration with a foreign private shipping company for efficient supervision of the line.
