Foreign vessels spend $50,000 for security patrols in Nigeria – Omatseye.
Foreign vessels spend $50,000 for security patrols in Nigeria - Omatseye.
By Ruth Sunday
A former Director General of NIMASA, Barr. Temisan Omatseye has disclosed that since the end of the SAA contract operated by Ocean Marine Solutions Limited (OMSL), foreign vessels spend an average of $50,000 for security patrols in the country.
Omatseye stated this in his paper presentation at the maiden edition of Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) Annual Lecture held in Lagos on Wednesday
He observed that OMSL SAA activities created a degree of comfort for global shipowners and filled a lacuna in securing the anchorage area.
The former NIMASA boss suggested that the Deep Blue Project assets could be deployed to fill the missing role of SAA, stressing that service could be free or at a much- subsidized cost since the former operators were adjudged to be extorting shipowners.
He proposed a Response Zone Transit Corridor concept to create a patrolled transit corridor in the key high-risk areas in the Nigerian exclusive exclusive zone (EEZ).
“A 100 nautical mile transit corridor could be created to support vessels moving in and out of Bonny/Onne/Port Harcourt. The corridor will be permanently patrolled by 10 security vessels providing a guaranteed response to an area 50 nautical miles wide and 110 nautical miles long of a maximum 60 minutes dependent on location of incident. A drifting area at the outer limit of the transit corridor would replace requirements inshore for secured anchorage. The same concept could also cover between Lagos and Escravos areas, giving security guarantee up to 50 nautical mile offshore,” he said.
