BY FRONTLINE REPORTERS

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has detained four vessels over alleged violations of the country’s Cabotage regulations, intensifying efforts to enforce local content requirements and strengthen indigenous participation in coastal and inland shipping.

The vessels — MT HOLMES, MT FUJAIRAH ENERGY, JS GRATITUDE and MT BORA — were identified through intelligence gathering and surveillance profiling and detained within the Lagos maritime domain. NIMASA said some of the vessels had since been released after regularising their infractions.

The enforcement operation, tagged Operation Sea Guardian, was designed to strengthen regulatory compliance, verify adherence to Cabotage obligations, assess compliance with applicable surcharges and levies, and ensure that operators abide by relevant maritime laws.

The operation deployed assets under the Deep Blue Project to track, board, inspect and verify the operational status of vessels flagged by intelligence reports and compliance indicators.

It was conducted through collaboration among NIMASA’s enforcement personnel, the Nigerian Navy, the Maritime Guard Command and C4i intelligence personnel.

Reacting to the development, NIMASA’s Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, said the agency would conduct such operations more frequently and impose appropriate sanctions on defaulting operators.

He said the agency had earlier announced plans to intensify enforcement of indigenous participation in Nigeria’s coastal and inland trade, adding that the latest operation demonstrated its commitment to implementing the policy.

“It is therefore in the interest of operators to ensure total compliance because defaulters will be visited with stiff sanctions in line with the law,” Mobereola said.

The agency reiterated its determination to ensure compliance with the Cabotage regime and promote greater participation by indigenous operators in Nigeria’s maritime industry.

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