Standardised digital communication key to effective Port, Flag Administration —Jamoh

The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr Bashir Jamoh, says international collaboration to attain standardised digitalisation is essential for maritime administrations across the world.

He added that all stakeholders in the maritime sector should effectively communicate in line with provisions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA).

Dr Jamoh, who stated this at the launch of Denmark’s first commercial satellite, Sternula-1, in Aalborg, Denmark, noted that NIMASA is participating in the testing stage of an international satellite system that would improve communication channels for vessels at sea as part of the current management’s quest to ensure best practices in the Nigerian maritime sector.

He noted that the IMO sets the requirements for the e-navigation strategy implementation plan while IALA develops the technical solutions such as AIS as part of measures to ease and promote digital communication in the maritime industry.

According to him, “Ultimately, seaborne transport depends on a secure and trustworthy flow of information. In this new reality, access to quality data is essential for ship managers to make decisions, act on market opportunities, and meet new requirements.

“A well digitalised system leads to faster access to information, improved customer experience, increased productivity, lower operational costs, improved decision making, improved information security, higher mobility and automation of business processes amongst others.”

In the port sector, Jamoh noted that digitalisation is the foundation of smart ports and digital twins, both technological tools and solutions that can transform real-time data into accurate and more precise business decisions, rendering port operations extremely effective as it interconnects all sectors of the maritime supply chain.

NIMASA, in the third quarter of 2022, had signed a letter-of-intent with the Danish telecoms company Sternula, on participation in the Worldwide AIS 2.0 demo project that will  allow for early testing of digital services over the satellite-based AIS 2.0 at the beginning of this year.

Sternula-1 and the built-in AIS 2.0 technology, also called VDES, is a new communication solution to implement a global e-navigation strategy. AIS 2.0 is an extension to AIS, adding two-way data channels over VHF by using special satellite channels which means that every ship with a VHF antenna would be able to communicate globally.