13 January 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, which is constitutionally mandated as the Designated Authority, for the implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security, ISPS, Code, says it is determined to ensure 100 per cent compliance with the provisions of the code in the country.
In a bid to achieve this, the agency had instituted stringent measures against defaulting facilities, having worked hard to attain its present position of over 80 percent compliance with the nation’s 129 facilities, NIMASA said in a statement.
NIMASA said facilities shut as a result of this would remain closed until their managers corrected the identified deficiencies and pay a prescribed fine.
The agency carried its war against facilities that are yet to comply with the code to Port Harcourt and Calabar late last year, after shutting down a facility in Lagos over non-compliance with the code.
It shut two jetties in the Rivers and Cross River states capitals, the affected facilities being Magcobar Manufacturing Limited jetty at Reclamation Road, Port Harcourt and Shoreline Logistics Limited at Old NPA Port, Marina Road, Calabar.
Earlier, NIMASA had shut the Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited jetty at Ibafon, Lagos, for non-compliance with the ISPS code.
The exercise, according to NIMASA, is a continuous one, with a target to achieve 100 percent compliance that will guarantee the security of ships and port facilities especially in a period when terrorist activities have been heightened.
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