NPA: Buoys theft threatening maritime safety, revenue generation
The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) has said the theft of buoys worth millions of naira has made navigation more dangerous and discouraged international cargo ships from using Nigeria’s eastern maritime corridor. The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, said this on Tuesday at the 55th session of the State House Briefing, organised by the […]
Mohammed Bello Koko
The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) has said the theft of buoys worth millions of naira has made navigation more dangerous and discouraged international cargo ships from using Nigeria’s eastern maritime corridor.
The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, said this on Tuesday at the 55th session of the State House Briefing, organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House, Abuja.
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Major ports along the Eastern water ways are in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Onne, and Warri.
According to him, each of the buoy, which serves as navigational route signs, cost between N12 million and N20 million, whereas no fewer than 25 of these maritime safety equipment have been stolen from Nigerians waters this year alone.
Koko said apart from the cost of the buoys, it is even costly to install and deploy them on waters.
He said lack of these buoys put ships at risk of running aground, stating that many foreign ship captains choose to avoid certain areas of Nigerian waterways as a result of this anxiety, thereby having adverse effect on government revenue at the affected ports.
Also, the NPA boss said Calabar and Onne Ports are now ISO-certified and have seen tremendous increase in traffic, not just imports but also exports, with Onne becoming the fastest-growing port in Nigeria today.
Koko said: “In terms of percentage input, Onne has done 11,800 metric tons half of this year. We are seeing that the increase in percentage is high, probably because it’s easier to do business in Onne now.