ALSN urges NASS to delay shipping agency bill

Admiralty Lawyers Society of Nigeria (ALSN) has called on the National Assembly not to pass the Nigerian Shipping and Port Regulatory Agency Bill into law until all the technical issues are cleared.

The group also called on the federal government to revisit the Orosanya panel report and implement it by merging all presently constituted maritime agencies performing the same or similar functions.

ALSN president, Angus Obinna Chukwuka, argued that the bill, if passed into law, would create a lot of confusion and chaos within the maritime industry.

“In certain provisions of the bill, the agency is given similar powers as the ones presently exercised by NIMASA, for instance, power of certifications. Beyond this, the bill creates functions for the agency akin to the ones now performed by the NPA regarding the ports. It would appear that the effect of the enactment is to create two masters for the same ship.

“Allowing such establishments to coexist constitutes colossal economic wastage. Meanwhile, unwarranted frictions are unleashed every day because of needless duplications.

“Furthermore, now more than ever before, the federal government should revisit the issue of revamping the eastern ports to make those ports economically viable and create employment for the teaming youths while affording Port users efficient and efficacious maritime services,” he said.

Chukwuka stated that if the Bill is passed into law, it will create an agency that will serve as the Economic Regulator of our ports.

The group further called for measures to establish automatic and comprehensive automation systems in the ports in Nigeria to reap maximum benefits as a nation from the international maritime industry, optimum port automation is inevitable.