NCDMB partners NIMASA, NIWA on new Marine Vessel Categorization Scheme

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has partnered with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in the introduction of a revised Marine Vessel Categorization Scheme, designed to increase indigenous participation, manning and ownership in marine operations of the oil and gas industry.

The scheme was presented at a one-day stakeholders’ workshop held in Lagos on Monday and the key attributes is the reduction of the requirements for vessel categorization from 21 items to 14, taking out some unnecessary documentations and referencing existing process with global standards.

In his remarks, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, NCDMB, Mr. Akintunde Adelana said that the current scheme was adopted in 2013 for use on tenders involving marine vessels and it helped to increase the participation of Nigerian owned vessels from below five percent to 35 percent.

According to him, “it increased the level of participation for Nigerians, instilled more confidence for investment by Nigerians, increased awareness of Nigerians in this area of operation. Ultimately, it led to increase in in-country spend and this boosted Nigeria’s economy.”

He explained that following the adoption of the Board’s 10-year strategic roadmap, which is focused on ramping up Nigerian Content to 70 percent by 2027 and the Board’s vision to capture a wider interest of Nigerians, it became necessary to adopt an approach that will further increase the participation of Nigerian owners in the marine sector.

He confirmed that the new scheme was shared with NIMASA and NIWA and they are in alignment. “We have considered inland waterways vessels in the categorization. This will help to build Community Contractors,” he added.

Adelana also stated that the workshop was convened to enable stakeholders understand what is expected of them and how the process will operate when the scheme is fully deployed during tenders for marine vessels.

In his remarks, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Peterside Dakuku represented by the Assistant Director, NIMASA, Barr. Victor Egejuru said the agency through a joint collaborative committee with NCDMB has built and sustained synergy for the development of local content in the maritime sector. He noted that section 105 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act empowers the Board to implement Nigerian Content in the marine sector in collaboration with NIMASA.

“The interface with NCDMB has resulted in concerted, coordinated and trust building multi-layered results of activities geared at improving indigenous vessel participation in the oil and gas sector,” he added.

Also speaking, the Acting Managing Director of NIWA, Mr. Danladi Ibrahim represented by the Area Manager, NIWA Lagos, Engr. Sarat Braimah thanked the Board for the collaboration among the maritime and government agencies to resolve issues of interests for investors and stakeholders. She added that NIWA will incorporate relevant categorization requirements for inland waterway vessels into its planned electronic registration process to aid the work of the NCDMB.

Presenting the revised Marine Vessel Categorization Scheme, the project’s consultant, Engr Emmanuel Ilori listed some of the recommendations to include that vessels should be categorized by area of operation and vessels that are restricted to Inland Waterways should have different requirements as the technical requirements are different from vessels capable of operating in the coastal/exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Various industry stakeholders made contributions during the workshop and officials of the NCDMB assured that their feedback would be taken into consideration before the implementation of the scheme.