Peterside lauds U.S. support in implementation of ISPS Code

The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, has lauded the support of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and cooperation of Nigerian stakeholders in implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
A statement by the Head of Corporate Communications Team of NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, on Friday in Lagos, noted that the director-general stated this when he received a delegation of the USCG led by Mr Edward Munoz.
The delegation was in Nigeria on a pre-assessment visit of port and terminal facilities in Nigeria.
Peterside said the cooperation between the U.S Coast Guard and the Nigerian stakeholders was the reason behind the success the agency had achieved.
The director-general observed that the effective implementation of the ISPS code was for the good of the global shipping industry.
He said that NIMASA as the Designated Authority for the implementation of the code in Nigeria, was committed to safe and secured shipping.
The director-general welcomed third party evaluation from the USCG team, adding: “It provides the Agency a better opportunity to assess its progress and adopt new improvement initiatives’’.
“Ultimately, all of us are working for a common purpose, a safer world, through safety and security of the maritime sub sector.
“If we fix our different corners of the earth, the whole world will be safer for everybody. And so no effort should be spared in trying to guarantee safety and security of all our people,’’ Peterside said.
The director-general assured the delegation of NIMASA’s readiness to collaborate with its partners, even as he said the full implementation of the ISPS code was capable of drastically reducing security challenges in the maritime industry.
“We are totally committed, we are working very hard with all our partners and one thing we are sure of is that by the time the full assessment team comes in February, they would have noticed remarkable improvement.
“I am sure that the delegation will be more than satisfied that Nigeria is on course and that our dream of being the hub of maritime activities in the whole of West and Central Africa will be inching closer by the day,’’ Peterside said.
He appreciated the visiting team for the information and lessons learnt from previous visits.
Peterside called on the U.S. Government to continue to support Nigeria toward the full implementation of the ISPS code and indeed other areas where the country was experiencing security challenges.
Earlier in his remarks, Munoz explained that the USCG team was in Nigeria for a pre-assessment visit to highlight areas requiring improvement and to notify Nigeria of timelines for the scheduled USCG Assessment Audit expected to hold in February 2017.
“The purpose of this visit is really to prepare for the next assessment visit so it goes smoothly with the details of the schedule and also to provide questions to the Port Facility Security Officers (PFSOs) and to NIMASA to know what kind of information we will be looking for,” he said.
Munoz thanked NIMASA for the work done on the implementation so far and assured the Agency of the continuous support and partnership of the USCG at all times.