Following the refusal of the International Oil Companies (IOC) to pay maritime workers under the aegis of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) outstanding stevedoring entitlements which has running into billions of Naira, findings have revealed that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has suspended some essential services being rendered to the IOCs until they meet their financial obligations to the workers.
According to a high ranking member of the MWUN who begged not to have his name in print as he is not authorised to speak on the matter, some essential services like clearance to service boats visiting IOCs platforms have been put on hold pending the outcome of a larger stakeholders’ meeting comprising of the Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT), NPA, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and others.
“Don’t forget that NPA provides service and clearances for all service boat operations calling at all IOCs platforms and terminals. Also, all onshore logistic bases are under the control and regulation of the NPA, likewise all pilotage movements for all categories of crafts. Information reaching us at MWUN is that some clearances usually given to service boats that visit some IOCs platforms by the NPA have been put on hold.
“Our members who work on the platforms of the affected IOCs keep giving us feedback on daily developments, and we need to commend the NPA for its effort to ensure dockworkers get paid for services rendered,” the MWUN official told the Nigerian Tribune in an exclusive chat.
It would be recalled that despite the MWUN embarking on a three days seaport shutdown recently to protest the refusal of the IOC’s to pay them their entitlement, the maritime workers are yet to get their entitlement.
and then