Kunle Kalejaye
27 July 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has developed a ‘program of action’ to keep its personnel abreast with the provisions of the International Maritime Organisation, IMO instruments for implementation and to encourage regular interface with the IMO and member states.
It is in line with this objective that NIMASA was part of the Nigerian delegation to the IMO for the Sub-Committee meeting of the Implementation of IMO Instruments (III) which held its third session at the IMO Headquarters from 18th to 22nd July 2016.
The meeting which was attended by delegates from Member states established four working groups in order to deepen discussions and encourage more robust and technical inputs with each group forwarding its report to the plenary for consideration.
The four Working Groups comprises of an analysis of marine safety investigation reports; and harmonization of Port State Control (PSC) activities and analysis of PSC data.
The others were the working group on the analysis of consolidated audit summary reports; and the working group on survey guidelines under the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification (HSSC) and non-exhaustive list of obligations under instruments relevant to the IMO implementation Code.
The Nigerian delegation which was made up of staff from relevant Agencies of the Ministry of Transportation including NIMASA, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) actively participated in all working groups with the coordination of Nigeria’s Alternate Permanent Representative to the IMO, Mr. Bala Dikko.
The delegates from NIMASA who are conscious of the determination of the Agency’s current Management towards repositioning the Agency and ensuring compliance with IMO mandatory instruments with particular emphasis on recent amendments adopted by the IMO made strategic contributions at the meeting with regard to peculiar implementation challenges in developing countries.
One of the key items on the Sub Committee’s agenda was the review of Port State Control procedures 2011 to further standardize the work of Port State Control officers and improve overall effectiveness.
Maritime training institutions in Member states were also encouraged to make use of the IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) module on marine casualties and incidents to access reports of marine casualty investigation filed by the IMO member states as this could provide case studies and valuable lessons for the training of seafarer.
It will be recalled that Dr. Peterside had pledged the resolve of the Agency for the implementation of IMO instruments while receiving the interim report of the IMO Member States Audit Scheme (IMSAS) team in Lagos last month.
