30 May 2016, Lagos – Poor maritime safety in the country could be responsible for the upsurge in sea piracy and other related crimes, Tosan Harriman, Chief Executive Officer, Neptune Marine Services has said.
Neptune which prides itself as a leader in the sector having been in existence as a going concern for over 60years, supplies safety equipment from leading manufacturers as well as operates liferaft stations in some parts of the country.
The company only recently donated some equipment to the Nigerian Navy as part of its corporate social responsibility and commitment to stakeholders in the sector.
Justifying the need for the donation, Harriman recalled that the relationship between his company and the Navy goes way back when the Patriarch of the Harriman family, Dr. Hope was actively involved in the sector thus the company had no plans to severe that relationship hence they decided to contribute the little they did towards uplifting the Navy.
The younger Harriman said the company is usually all for awareness creation as far as marine safety is concerned.
On what the government can do with regards to marine safety, Harriman said there needs to be effective collaboration with sister agencies in order to achieve the utmost objective of marine safety in the country.
Government, he stressed, “Has a very well developed and effective marine safety policy in place. It has institutions like NIMASA that oversees its general interests. So, I won’t say that government needs to do anything particular about the awareness of safety,” maybe the coordinated understanding of the latest development. For example, what we are donating is a brand new product, top on the range. Sometimes, people make do with older technology. Government does a lot of awareness but they can always do more. I think perhaps in the area of enforcement. I suspect that there may be operations that are not adequately secure in terms of safety. There are institutions in place to monitor that?”
Neptune Marine Service Limited, formerly known as Marine Factors was the brainchild of the late Dr Hope Harriman. The company which has brought a lot of innovation into marine safety and security is currently being run by two sons Charles Tosan Harriman and Harold Oti Harriman.
- The Nation
