Maritime Industry for greater efficiency in line with International best practices.
Dr. Peterside who made this known in Lagos said the forcast which will deal with how developments on the international scene will affect the industry in Nigeria is intended to serve as a guide to investors and stakeholders in the Industry.
The 2018 Nigerian maritime industry forecast is expected to be a set of projections based on study of trends and patterns and it is intended to serve as a guide for investors and stakeholders in the industry.
He further revealed that it would entail the empirical projections that will determine the outlook of the industry in Nigeria by the first quarter of 2018 adding that the forecast would be released from a holistic perspective in order to know areas of advantage that would be of immense benefit to stakeholders and industry players, both locally and internationally.
According to him, “on the positive side it will look at where the opportunities will be in the year 2018 & 2019; will greater investment in oil and gas translate to more demand for offshore support vessels? What are the industry perspectives? What government and her agencies should do to attract more investment in the industry amongst other salient issues.”
The NIMASA DG noted that the maritime industry forecast will also look at whether there will be improvement in maritime security especially in the Niger Delta and what impact it will have on shipping as well as consider the impact of NIMASA’s partnership with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board NCDMB on the implementation of the Coastal and Inland Shipping Cabotage regime and international shipping including the various projected impact of shift to digital shipping in Nigeria and its attendant effect on Nigerian shippers.
Dr. Peterside also noted that the maritime forecast to be released by NIMASA will look at the impact of global emphasis on Blue Economy and how Nigerians can benefit from it.
In the area of capacity building the DG pointed out that the effect on the industry will be considered as two new specialised Universities; Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko and the Admiralty University are expected to begin academic calendar next year, in addition to an already repositioned Maritime Academy of Nigeria MAN, Oron.
Other areas of focus in then forecast includes; the government decision on investment status in port and maritime infrastructure, the impact of emphasis on reduction on environmental footprint arising from shipping.
From the regulatory perspective it will also consider the impact on coming into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention, International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) mandatory compliance, among other conventions and regulations. The most likely impact of greater safety compliance enforcement by the Maritime administration of Nigeria will also be on the front burner in the report.
On the market side, Dr. Peterside noted that it wiould analyse how demand and supply will evolve in the industry. “This report would be the most informative documentation on the future of the maritime industry in Nigeria”.
