Why MAN, Oron graduates cannot sail on our vessels —NSML

The NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Limited (NSML) recently rebranded, convening a meeting with maritime editors to discuss its achievements and challenges since inception. TOLA ADENUBI was there and brings the excerpts.

In terms of the Nigerianisation policy of NSML, how many Nigerians are on board your vessels or have passed through your vessels?

We have a Nigerianization objective or goal and that was defined a very long time ago, that we are a Nigerian company and of course, we were created to provide opportunities for Nigerian seafarers to participate in the LNG shipping industry. So we defined the Nigerianization objective, which is, we want to have at every moment 85 percent of our crew on board our vessels to be Nigerians.

That is the baseline objective. But underpinning that objective is also the desire to ensure that at every time, we have a full complement of 100 per cent crew that can run our vessels. Does it mean that our crew will be 100 percent Nigerians every time? No. We say we’ll have a complement. Now, the question is why are we keeping 15 percent for non-Nigerians? Again, it’s about ensuring that we are open to the world. The shipping industry by its nature opens up to the world.

In shipping, when we talk about standards, it’s a global thing. And because we want to have a cross-fertilisation of cultures, of ideas onboard, that was why we kept 15 percent for other nationalities. Today, we have Polish, we have Ukrainians, we have Indians, we have Malaysians, we have Filipinos on our vessels.

When you go onboard our vessels, it’s one family. Everybody is an NSML staff. You don’t have NSML Nigerian staff. Everybody is an NSML staff. They go on board, they work together, they collaborate, they run the vessels, and they run it professionally.

We were able to attain 85 percent Nigerianisation onboard our vessels two years ago. Is it static? No. Conditions are not static. Some years, we may be at 90 percent Nigerianisation. Some years, we may fall back. But because you have that objective, when you fall back, you meet it up because for example, people will leave. That’s normal. People will be promoted. We will have additional vessels to manage. We have been growing our vessels under management consistently. We just took delivery of a new advanced LNG mega vessel called the Axios. It’s a mega vessel and a sister vessel of the Arcturus. Remember the Arcturus that we took last year? The Axios arrived in our fleet just last month and it’s something we’re proud about. It’s one of the most advanced LNG vessels in operation in the world today. We are one of the few technical ship managers with those kinds of vessels under management and we’re providing opportunities for Nigerians to sail on those vessels. But from the office side, we are 100 percent Nigerian in the office. The entire leadership, the entire crew, the staff in the office are Nigerians.

 

How many Nigerian cadets have sailed on your vessels?

You talked about the cadetship program. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is the co-sponsor of Nigerian cadets under the NSDP program. Part of their certification program is to go on board vessels and have their sea-time. And that is a very fundamental aspect of their certification. They go to the colleges first, then they go on board ships, and then they go back to the colleges for their final exams.

So we, in conjunction with NIMASA, have been one of the most consistent, If not the largest provider of sea-time to Nigerian Cadets. I don’t want to say absolutely the largest because I don’t know what others do. But we’ve been one of the most consistent in terms of providing sea-time for Nigerian cadets.

So far, almost 300 cadets have sailed on our vessels. And we take this very, very important. Because it is in line with that desire to deepen the Nigerian maritime sector.

We are one of the few companies with ocean-going vessels in Nigeria today. We’re the only LNG technical management company, I dare say, in sub-Saharan Africa today. So the opportunity that we give them to be on those vessels is actually top-notch.

But most importantly, it is also an opportunity for us, that they come on our vessel, they train on our vessel, we imbibe them with our standards, with our culture, and they go back to their colleges and finish their courses. We can also, where the opportunities arise, recruit from that group. And so far, almost 100 Nigerian Cadets have been recruited into NSML, and we’re very proud of that.

I’m sure some of you were there when we had the induction program for the Romanian cadets. Those are people who unfortunately went to Romania, finished, but unfortunately, their certification were not recognized. We stepped in to provide a solution to NIMASA, which is simply that the Romanian Cadets will go on our vessels, and I think about 65 of them are already on the vessels. They’re about to finish their sea-time, and then they will go to a maritime academy in the UK for their certification, which is a bridge program. So we’re exploring multiple ways to provide solutions and provide opportunities for Nigerian seafarers.

 

What’s your level of collaboration with the Maritime Academy of Nigeria?

We do collaborate with the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron. In 2014, if I remember correctly, we actually went to the Maritime Academy in Oron, evaluated their curriculum, identified their needs, and supported the upgrading of their facilities. Some of our top management today all went to the Maritime Academy in Oron.

We currently developed a program where we’re taking their Cadets on industrial attachment. I think we have about 20 students on industrial attachment from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron in our offices.

Now, there is a fundamental problem, which is the certification that NIMASA issues to the Cadets, which is Near Coastal Voyages. Unfortunately, the NIMASA accredited certificate is not recognized internationally for ocean-going vessels.

So, the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, as good as they are in terms of their facility and their curriculum, do have a certificate accreditation recognition problem. But that’s something that we’re discussing and we’re working with NIMASA to find a way to resolve that. It’s more of an organizational issue than anything else. It’s not a quality issue. Let me be very frank, It’s not a quality issue. It’s a quality assurance issue. Let me give you examples, you can say I’m good and nobody can argue against the fact that I am good. But somebody must then test me to say, yes, you are good. That is a quality assurance issue. I may believe you are good, but my word will not count for somebody else. Somebody needs to have said, okay, what is the assurance process to ensure you are good today and you’ll be good tomorrow. That is why we having discussion with NIMASA to resolve this issue.

Our discussion is centered on how do we support NIMASA to upgrade their systems, their processes, to ensure others internationally can come in and say, yes, we believe and we assure ourselves that your systems and processes are accredited and we believe they are good. It’s just a matter of perception, but discussion is still ongoing.

Unfortunately, because we are an ocean-going company, (our vessels call at various international destinations), we cannot have NIMASA-trained officers with Certificate of Competency’s on those vessels yet because those certifications are not fully accepted internationally yet.

But we’re working towards that. We have been able to resolve the ratings certification. I think we were one of those that worked with NIMASA to resolve the ratings certification where now, the Bermuda recognizes Nigerian issued STCW. That’s why we’re able to employ them on our vessels. And we hope to be able to achieve the same with the officers as well.

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE