NAN-H-56
Wreck
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, Jan.15, 2017(NAN) Dr Dakuku Peterside, Director-General, NIMASA, said the agency planned to revisit the procedure of wreck removal in the country.
Peterside said this at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
He said the agency was waiting for the consent of the Federal Ministry of Transportation so it could roll out plans on wreck removal in line with international best practice.
Cue in audio (Peterside on wreck Story 2)
“Going forward, we intend to revisit wreck removal because it is important if our navigable waters will be safe for navigation by all.
“So we are revisiting it and any moment from now, once we get the consent of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, we will put out marine notice.
On how NIMASA intended to proceed with wreck removal in line with the Nairobi Convention which is an International Convention, Peterside said wrecks posed serious dangers to navigation globally.
Cue out audio
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He said wrecks also impacted negatively on the environment and that led to coming into force the Nairobi Convention on wreck removal of 2007.
He said the convention was made by the IMO on African soil in Kenya sometime in 2007.
“Part of the provisions of the Nairobi convention is that if a ship is declared wreck, you publish information to that effect.
“The owner of the wreck is expected to remove it within a certain period and if they don’t, it is declared a wreck and the maritime administration can now remove it and the owners can pay surcharge and pick up the wreck.
“Alternatively, the maritime administration can now sell the wreck, dispose of the wreck, cover the money spent in getting the wreck out.
“And if after a certain period nobody claims ownership of the wreck, then it is forfeited to the maritime administration of the country,’’ Peterside said.
On reports by ship owners instituting legal cases against NIMASA whenever wrecks were removed, the NIMASA boss said there had been very few cases of such.
He said the agency had been following the law diligently and even when people came to claim ownership of wrecks, the agency recovered the moneys it spent in getting the wreck out of the river.
“So we are revisiting it; it is also not true that whenever we publish marine duties people will rush to the courts, I don’t think it is the true picture.(NAN)
LCN/YEE/IA
Edited by Emmanuel Yashim/Idris Abdulrahman
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