THE shipping business is evolving by the day, which can be attributed to the global demand of movement of goods, infrastructural facilities, and other essentials of life whereas the side effect is relatively more that the gains. According to Iniodu and Ukpong, shipping in Nigeria basically started during the second half of the last century via efforts of the foreign shipping lines. Woreman line started as a trading house in Hamburg and developed into a visible shipping company in 1894. Their first ship “Theresa Henrietter” left Hamburg for West Africa on 24th march, 1849. Elder Dempster commenced services in Nigeria in 1892 with their first ship “Fore runner”. This was followed by another British line “Palm line” which came into being after the Second World War. In 1960, Nigerian shipping line joined the trade as a junior. This period marked the formation of the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) in 1958. This marked the beginning of our national carrier’s participation in sea borne trade from humble beginnings of three second hand vessels, it grew to 12 owned vessels in 1970. By 1977, NNSL contracted to build 12 new vessels which were successfully delivered, making a total of 24 vessels.Today, the ships have all been grounded and some put to scrap due to poor management of the national fleet. However, there has been a renewed interest in the venture due to lack of alternatives to maritime transport.
The investment climate in the Nigerian shipping industry is guided by the current national economic development policy which has the objective of promoting a strong private driven industry with the government as the enabler. Major key and specific investment opportunities in the Nigerian maritime sector are numerous but it can only strife if the concerned stakeholders take holistic approach in handling it. The major reforms which are taking place in Nigerian maritime and shipping sector is the deregulation and liberalization of port services to private sector participation. In development, this has subsequently led to the concessioning of the major port terminals in the country to private operators. The country still needs modern and efficiently run port terminals to meet the growing demands of efficient port services. Development in deep sea ports to accommodate the ever increasing draft of modern ships deployed in international haul is another priority investment area. Nigeria presently has no deep sea port, and the growth envisaged in the economy in the medium to long term would require such a port facility to accommodate the size of ship and volume of traffic.
There are no ship breaking and recycling activities in the whole of the African continent despite the high number of scrapped ships and the relics that adorn the inland waterways of African countries. This constitutes navigational hazards as well as threats to safer shipping and cleaner waters. This development makes it compelling those vessels for scrapping anywhere in Africa are towed all the way to Asia. This constitutes a serious economic dislocation from any perspective it is considered. In Nigeria, ship wrecks and scraps are high in numbers and constitute reasonable base feed stock for a scrapping and recycling industry. Nigeria being a major oil and gas producing and trading nation, investors in the tanker trade are assured of the full employment of their vessel on a sustainable basis, especially on the affreightment of national cargos. These investments will create robust trade for gas carrier operators. Also, industrial chemicals constitute a major import component of Nigeria’s freight trade. Generally, investment in Very Large Crude Carriers( VLCC), largest ship to transit suez canal( SUEZMAX), Liquefied natural gas/liquefied petroleum gas LNG/LPG, ultra large crude carriers (ULCC) etc. tankers remains commercially viable for Nigerian crude trade. However, the plethoral challenges confronting the shipping business stem from:
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Vessels emit harmful pollutants to the air such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, (Nox,Sox). Other sources of air pollution from shipping include the release of oxylene, toluene, xylene and other toxins from fuel vapour during loading and unloading of marine tank vessels. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), impacts of these pollutants may include adverse health effects such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, lung damage, learning impairment and even death. Depletion of the ozone layer, damage to agricultural resources and increase in acid rain are other negative consequences. Oil released into the ecosystem is another major environmental problem associated with the shipping industry. Large spills occur during transportation through tanker accidents and spills during loading and off loading. Waste water from tank washing, discharge from bilges and engine maintenance are common causes of smaller spills. These are hazardous to human beings and the environment through bioaccumulation of toxins through the food chain. In addition, oil pollution degrades coastal habitats, smothering tidal pools and killing marsh grass.
All ships produce solid wastes during voyages. Most of these wastes can be legally disposed at sea, as long as they are released at a distance from the shore. Plastics must be properly incinerated on land. Solid waste from shipping enters the environment when cargo is lost at sea or accidentally released during loading and unloading. To maintain safe navigation depths, many harbor channels must be periodically dredged. The sediments contain contaminants which when released pose serious threats to the ecosystem, particularly through bio accumulation in chain. To this extent, if the benefits acruable from shipping business must be realize, all stakeholders must be committed and ready to go the extra mile in making it work.
Such desirable steps should include: Unnecessary delays, sharp practices and scam should be drastically reduced at the ports for shipment to move freely thereby making just in time (JIT) supply chain management to be effective in Nigeria.
Maritime policy makers should understudy developed economies with a view to duplicating some features and toe their own path of growth, Investors should be encouraged to go into shipping with incentives like tax free holidays, government guaranteed loans and protection against foreign dominance,.Maritime policy makers should understudy developed economies with a view to duplicating some features and toe their own path of growth, And lastly, the government should and must do all it can to curtail foreign dominance and the repatriation of profit for a more sustainable economy.
- Odupitan writes in via [email protected].
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