Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar has assured International Community of the Federal Government’s commitment towards ensuring that adequate safety measures are maintained along Nigerian water ways.
The Minister gave the assurance yesterday while receiving the report of a 10 man Marine Board of inquiry set up to look into the fire incidents and explosion involving a ship and a barge –“ Barge S.215” and “MT African Hyacinth” which occurred in both Lagos Port and Port-Harcourt port respectively in 2013.
Sen. Umar who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Engr. Nebolisa Emodi explained that the decision to set up the Board of Inquiry was to establish the immediate and remote causes of the accidents, stressing that the effort was to ensure Nigeria’s compliance and monitoring procedure in line with the Merchant Shipping Act and ISPS code.
He further stated that owners of vessels plying Nigerian water ways are compliant with certain standard such as Insurance cover and capacity building for their crew in line with the expectations of international best practices.
He therefore commended the committee members for their commitments and patriotism in discharging their duties, promising that their recommendations would be used to ensure that standard of compliance and monitoring procedures are brought to the best level in the country.