The Nigeria Indigenous Ship Owners Association (NISA) has inaugurated its shipping line christened NISA Ocean Transport Limited (NOTL).
Following its formal inauguration in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Lagos recently, the shipping line is set to commence operations with two vessels.
At the inauguration of the 6-member board members, the Chairman of NISA Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Isaac Jolapomo disclosed that NOTL board comprises two members of NISA BoT, two NISA executives and two NISA members.
Apparently aware that this is not the first time NISA has mooted the idea of setting up its own shipping line but failed, the revered ship owner said that the association had attempted to establish this company on two other occasions in the past but expressed confidence that the new company under the leadership of Mr. Sunny Omatseye and his team will succeed.
His words: “This is the third time we are attempting this and we have chosen people who have integrity. We chose two members from the NISA BoT namely, Sir Sunny Omatseye and Mr. Tunji Brown. They were also part of the executives at a point when the association was at its strongest. We chose two present executives, namely the President, Captain Sola Adewunmi and the General Secretary, Mr. Jibril Rowaye because they are our leaders that we elected. We also chose two members, Paul Jegede and Emeka Obiogbulu to be part of the team.
“Your responsibility is to drive this company in a manner that it will start generating profits for the association. The tenure of office is 3 years for the BoT members while 6 years applies for the executives and general members.”
The Chairman of NOTL, Mr. Sunny Omatseye in his acceptance speech said the new shipping firm intends to acquire two vessels, a 30,000 tons tanker and an LPG vessel.
He expressed confidence that NOTL will get patronage from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).
“Actually, what the association has decided is that nobody is having the majority share. It is for all members of the shipping industry. People are welcome to join the association and our intention is to see how we can provide our ship and take more of the foreigners off our coast.
“We are also looking at the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) and other financing bodies too for funding. We expect that the Nigerian ship owners will be the first group to be considered for the CVFF when disbursement commences”, he added.
Omatseye averred that the issuance of waivers to foreign ship owners is a major problem but noted that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) was tackling it just as the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola has assured that the issue of waivers will be addressed because President Bola Tinubu is looking at how to streamline shipping operations so that Nigerians can participate fully.
“If the waiver issue is looked into, I think most of the foreigners will move out and leave the industry for Nigerians”, he concluded.
