Plunging oil sets up winners and losers amid economic turmoil

Plunging oil prices are not proving a sole negative for the Nigerian economy, as new investors prepare to capitalise on cheaper assets amid an economic turmoil that threatens to bankrupt at least five states.

From bankers to oil barons and profligate Nigerian state governors who refused to save for the proverbial rainy day, the 45 percent slump in crude oil this year presents opportunity as well as pitfalls.

“Nigerian oil assets are much cheaper now and present a good time to take positions,” said Diekola Onaolapo, CEO of Eczellon Capital, a Lagos based boutique investment bank, in a Dec.15 interview with BusinesDay.

While firms like Eczellon that just launched a $250 million Private Equity (P.E) fund targeting oil and gas deals are looking to buy beaten down assets, those who gorged up on debt to finance acquisitions when oil traded above $100 per barrel are having to restrategise.

Oando which financed the acquisition of Conoco Philips Nigerian assets for a consideration of $1.5 billion had total debt in its balance sheet of N351.71 billion ($2.093 billion), while debt to equity ratio, which measures the proportion of debt in the capital structure of a company was 163.38 percent, the highest among its peers.

Oando’s share price has lost -31.42 percent year to date, while Seplat, which raised $500 m in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April this year, at N576 per share, has lost -51.35 percent of its value since the shares started trading.

Both have underperformed the Nigerian benchmark equity gauge which has plunged by -26.22 percent in the period.

Oando has adopted hedging on future crude production, ensuring it is adequately protected over the next few years, if oil prices stay below ~$97/barrel, according to Ainojie ‘Alex’ Irune, Head Corporate Communications, Oando Plc.

“This effectively ensures the company receives income pegged approximately to the above price,” said Irune.

Seplat says it is expanding its horizon outside the production of oil and investing in gas projects which are less risky and volatile.

“The gas business is far more stable than the oil business. You don’t have the disruption like you have in oil,” said Austin Avuru, Chief executive officer of Seplat.

However, lower oil prices mean lower revenues, which could translate to strains in the credit repayment ability of some of the upstream oil companies.

This is where the bankers may feel some stress.

“The loans to the indigenous companies were mostly structured with an assumed oil price of $70-75/bl. In the event that oil prices test the break-even levels, a couple of banks expect these loans to get restructured,” said Adesoji Solake, Renaissance Capital’s SSA banking analyst, in a Dec 01 note.

Brent for February settlement was down $1.79 to $59.42 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 11:31 a.m. local time yesterday.

Slumping oil prices which are seen trading below $50 next year by analysts, will further crimp the budgets of state governors who are particularly vulnerable.

Oil revenues accounts for up to 75 percent of the Federal budget, however in some states it goes as high as 97 percent.

If the decline of crude oil prices in the global market continues for another three months, states’ economies will collapse, warned Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, at an event on Tuesday.

“Five states are close to bankruptcy and cannot pay salaries as we speak,” said Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives Company, at the BusinesDay energy conference held in November.

While oil prices may rebound by the end of 2015 as lower prices take out U.S shale producers, there is still the distinct possibility of oil triggering a black swan event, such as a sovereign blow up, as the continued freefall of the Russian Rouble despite a surprise rate hikes signal.

Such an outcome would worsen Nigeria’s already lowered growth prospects for 2015.

Read More

Boost for local content as Berger Paints wins NLNG coatings contract

Berger Paints Nigeria Plc has emerged a beneficiary of the Nigeria Local Content Act as it has won a contract to manufacture and supply coatings for two new NLNG carriers to be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea.

Consequent upon this, the management of Nigeria LNG has paid a visit to Berger Paints in Ikeja, Lagos, as a step required in the monitoring of the implementation of the Nigeria Local Content Act.

Receiving the Nigeria LNG Limited team at the premises of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Tor Nygard, managing director, Berger Paints, said his company was glad to be partners with NLNG in delivering the Nigeria Content Act.

“We will like to let you know that since the discussions on the participation in delivering the Local Content Act in Nigeria started, we have taken steps to demonstrate our commitment to the act by scaling up the standards of our operations and products,” Nygard said.

After a factory tour for the inspection of the paints to be shipped to Korea, Henry Agbodjan, head of shipping and knowledge transfer for Nigeria LNG Limited, said, “I am very pleased with the quantum of investments in terms of equipments which Berger Paints has deployed in ensuring the manufacture of paints and coatings locally. In compliance with global standards, their products are at par with those produced by KCC in Korea, which will be used by Hyundai Heavy Industries in the coating of two new NLNG vessels.”

The managing director of Berger Paints went on to assure the visiting team of the company’s capacity to do more than it is currently doing in view of the upgrade to full automation of its production facility in a bid to improve its offering. He further said the automation would have major positive impacts on production volume, costs, product quality and turn–around time. He also reiterated that Berger Paints was committed to delivering global quality to Nigerians at affordable prices.

Read More

Maritime safety in Nigeria: A necessity for human development (2)

The impact of human development on maritime safety in Nigeria will be examined using the Human Development Index (HDI). 

This is because the HDI is one of the ways in which the contribution of human capability to maritime safety can be analysed. It was recently reported that Nigeria ranks 153rd out of 187 countries in the United Nations HDI. It is necessary to subject this report to further analysis as it affects maritime safety in Nigeria.

Life expectancy

According to the World Health Organisation, life expectancy is the average number of years a person can expect to live. Thus, the average life expectancy in Nigeria was put at 52 years in 2011, while it is the 17th lowest in the world. This abysmal ranking, when viewed within the context of this article, was as a result of polluted waters, oil spills, ship wrecks, untreated sewage, heavy siltation, acidification, overfishing and destruction of coastal and marine habitat.

However, as a result of shift to double-hull tankers, oil discharges and spills to the sea have elsewhere been reduced by 63 percent, and tanker accidents have gone down by 75 percent and industrial discharges by 90 percent. This is not the same story in Nigeria as most of the ships operating in the oil and gas sector are single-hull and are very old. In fact, the number of ship wrecks is of major concern to maritime experts in Nigeria. It is a clear demonstration of NIMASA’s inability to cope with its mandate as a maritime safety enforcement agent.

High carbon emissions from ships resulting in environmental pollution and consequently affecting marine life and their ability to recover from extreme climatic conditions increase the cost of human health risk. Most seafarers indulge in various habits injurious to health such as excessive smoking, drinking of alcohol. These are health-threatening habits that may affect life expectancy and performance of seafarers. An assembly of healthy and skilled Nigerians is required as a contributory tool to maritime safety. Consequently, Nigerians must change their attitude towards having a safe maritime environment in order to increase their life-expectancy rating.

Education

With rapid changes in technology and the world becoming increasingly knowledge-based, education has become an important driver of human development. The quality of education is a critical factor for improving the quality of human resources in general and in particular for developing new skills, cultural values and behavioural pattern needed in the marine industry. An educated and healthy workforce is critical to increasing productivity in all sectors of the nation’s economy. In order to sustain shipping, the IMO through the International Safety Management (ISM) Codes frames the Safety Management Systems so that ship owners/operators could meet high training standards. For instance, the Standard of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping (STWC) Conventions 1995 amendment to the 1978 version for seafarers established training requirements for mariners based on the level of their licence, the ship type and minimum standards of safety. According to Ornitz, “The STWC Conventions provide guidance to training institutions as they teach safety and quality management, and also integrate classroom learning with real life experience.”

In Nigeria, NIMASA has accredited some training institutions to train those aspiring to be seafarers in line with IMO requirements. The government has also recently established a maritime university in Delta State, Nigeria, while training others in countries such as the Philippines and Egypt, amongst others. There are other private institutions within the country managed by individuals and the government-owned Maritime Academy, Oron, offering maritime-related courses up to post-graduate level. Whilst it is conceded that an appreciable level of success is made in maritime education in Nigeria, serious questions still remain regarding the quality. This is because in the past decade, the country has drifted to a situation of low academic standard. The proliferation of maritime schools has not helped matters as most students are ill-prepared for the marine profession.

For instance, “in 2012, out of 1,540,250 students that wrote the WAEC examination, only 789,288 representing 51.71 percent obtained 5 credits and above including Mathematics and English”. This has been the pattern in the past few years. The implication is that only few students possess the aptitude to study maritime-related courses which are mostly science-based. Importantly, there are no government-owned ships for those who are just graduating from maritime institutions to develop practical skills in marine engineering, navigation and seamanship. It could be argued that it is not necessary for the government to buy ships when in the last two decades there has been a decline in the number of skilled people to operate Nigerian-owned vessels.

The shortfall between educational provision and demand for places in the nation’s maritime industry is so substantial that many youths spend most precious time searching for work. This is because graduates of maritime institutions lack skills and qualifications that are pro-industry. This has undermined the government’s local content effort as foreign ship owners are not willing to employ most Nigerian seafarers. Instead, it is Indians, Filipinos, Greeks and Chinese that are mostly employed to work onboard most merchant ships in Nigeria. NIMASA therefore has a regulatory responsibility to ensure that standards stated in the ISM Codes are maintained in all institutions accredited to offer marine-related courses. The truth about maritime safety is that seafarers must possess “a culture that is characterised by rationality, inquisitiveness, motivation to learn and acquire new knowledge, focus on quality and deep roots in excellence”, while ship owners and operators must be committed to safety of crew, ship and the environment by ensuring that they provide competent, well-trained and motivated staff to maintain their vessels promptly.

Literacy

In the last 30 years, the number of tertiary institutions has increased exceedingly. Nigeria can now boast of 37 federal universities, 47 private universities, 38 state universities, 21 federal polytechnics, 36 state and 22 private polytechnics as well as numerous colleges of education. There are equally numerous maritime institutions accredited and not accredited by NIMASA in the country. In 2013, however, a newspaper reported that 10.5 million children were out of school. This, according to the then minister of state for education, Nyesom Wike, was “indeed an embarrassing literary statistics on Nigeria”. It was also reported that the number of illiterate adults has increased over the past two decades to reach 35 million. By implication, about 40 percent of Nigerians of working class (15-65 years) are illiterate. Consequently, the nation is not producing technologically-literate citizens who possess the qualities to engender maritime safety. This is because the ship is a complex system whose safety requirements are to be provided by males and females who possess necessary skill, knowledge and experience. Low levels of literacy and education in general can impede human development in a country and indeed the marine industry in a rapidly changing technology-driven world. Improving the nation’s literacy level requires commitment at all levels of government.

GDP per capita

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is most times used as an indicator and not as a measurement of a country’s standard of living. This is based on the assumption that all citizens will benefit from their county’s economic production. The standard of living of people in a country is determined by factors such as income, quality and availability of employment, class disparity, poverty rate, quality and affordable housing. Other factors include hours of work to purchase necessities, inflation rate, affordable or free access to healthcare, cost of goods and services, environmental quality, climate and safety, amongst others. But what do seafarers want? They want to live long, fulfilling lives, not just to be very rich.

It is regrettable to state that maritime safety cannot be at its peak in a nation where unemployment is high, environmental quality is below average, incidence of disease is high, and life expectancy is below average. Even, when the GDP is improved or rebased, neither maritime safety nor human development is enhanced. This is because GDP is a measure of economic quantity, not economic quality or welfare, let alone social or environmental well-being. The risk of shipping is high in Nigeria regarding maritime safety, as most ships are very old and not seaworthy. This is evidenced by the number of ship wrecks along the nation’s coastline. It was recently reported that “the nation’s coastline particularly in Lagos area is harbouring about 200 shipwrecks and abandoned ships”. This has posed danger to navigation as well as the environment. The health of people is compromised by the toxic water occasioned by decay of the wreckage. The Lagos State government has requested for N25 billion to salvage these abandoned vessels. In the same vein, NIMASA placed an advertorial in one of the newspapers directing the owners of the abandoned ships to make necessary arrangements for salvage. It is expedient to know how these ships found their ways into Nigeria’s maritime space.

The opportunities available for those operating in the shipping industry are unlimited. However, the prospect of those in shipping providing adequate maritime safety is limited because of shortage of skilled staff. Additionally, factors such as polluted waters, low level of literacy, insufficient knowledge coupled with limited funds have impaired the capability of those who are operating within the nation’s shipping industry to provide maritime safety. Consequently, maritime safety is secondary and at its ebb because Nigerian shipping companies are benefitting only from a fraction of the opportunities available. For Nigerian ship owners and operators to tap into these opportunities, the government must create enabling environment, attitude of individuals must change positively, people must be given quality education, and there must be leadership commitment at all levels to sustaining safety culture. It is only then that human development can be a prerequisite for maritime safety.

Read More

EQUIPPING THE BGT FLEET WITH WORLD-CLASS PERSONNEL

NLNG SHIP MANAGEMENT LIMITED

NSML is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nigeria LNG Limited, set up to give dedicated attention to providing, developing and managing high calibre personnel for NLNG's maritime business, with aspirations to provide such services to third parties in the future. NSML fully kicked off its activities in 2010 and is currently in its nascent organisational development phase.

NSML has continued to pursue the Nigerianisation Plan currently on the BGT vessels. From amongst its workforce of the shipboard officers, Nigerianisation has yielded six Captains and four Chief Engineers, all of which have now been deployed to the newly created NLNG Shipmanagement Services (NLNGSS).

From 2002 to 2011, a total of 182 cadets completed their cadetship training program in UK maritime colleges. As part of their training, all cadets go on board BGT vessels for practical experience; this is aimed at instilling in them the discipline required for succesful career at sea and at meeting the competency certification requirements of the STCW 9f regulations.

While in 2008 to 2010, a total of 72 Cadets were recruited. Their cadetship training started at Warsash Maritime Academy and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies (now City of Glasgow College) in the UK which takes three years. In 2011, 10 were recruited and they have commenced training in the UK in January 2012.

NSML currently has 153 Nigerian officers in its employment and has extended its portfolio to cover the management and training of cadets, a function previously handled by fleet managers SSML and AESM. Currently, BGT utilizes the services of 343 Ratings employed by GMS. This number is expected to grow to 400 in 2012 when NSML will commence direct employment and management of Ratings as approved by the NSML Board of Directors.

NLNG continues to support the Nigerian Maritime Academy, Oron, to train manpower for the industry. Warsash Maritime Academy, Southampton, was engaged to review the Academy's STCW 93 courses. They (Warsash Maritime Academy) are also required to help facilitate the accreditation process of Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, to enable them issue MCA approved certificates. The cost for these projects which includes purchase, installation and test-running some equipment for the Academy is fully borne by Nigeria LNG Limited. The COmpany has spent ofer US $100,000 on the equipment, besides sponsorship of four lecturers and a Life craft Technician to United Kingdom for training recently. In 2010, NLNG made a donation to facilitate training of officers in Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boat (PSCRB) worth N40 million to the Academy.

Year of Recruitment/Graduation	Total number of Recruited Cadets	Total number of Graduated Cadets
1998	11	0
1999	13	0
2000	19	0
2001	25	11
2002	9	12
2003	23	19
2004	0	24
2005	29	8
2006	28	21
2007	27	0
2008	34	29
2009	22	23
2010	16	22
2011	10	24

Read More

Rallies Investors For New Nigerian Dockyard - NLNG

Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited has reached out to the investment community— representatives of banks and other financial institutions— promoting the potential for a new dockyard in the country.

The dockyard, for location in Badagry, follows the conclusion of feasibility studies by Royal HaskoningDHV, an independent, international engineering and project management consultancy headquartered in the Netherlands.

The studies come as one of the benefits of NLNG’s US$1.6 billion contract with shipbuilders, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries, for the building of six new vessels.

“This dry-dock, when completed, holds huge potential for investors and for Nigeria. Our LNG vessels and very large crude carriers (VLCC) of other companies in the oil and gas, and marine industries, which are currently maintained overseas, resulting in millions of dollars in capital flight, will soon be maintained in-country with significant value-added for the Nigerian economy,” said Babs Omotowa, NLNG’s managing director and chief executive officer at an investors forum held in Lagos.

NLNG, leveraging on the agreement with the ship manufacturers, secured a number of lucrative opportunities beneficial to the Nigerian economy, including the training of about 600 young Nigerians in various aspects of ship-building, export of goods from Nigerian manufacturing companies, and the feasibility studies for building a dockyard.

Feasibility studies for citing the dry-dock were carried out on seven locations — Badagry, Lekki FTZ, Ladol Island, Ogogoro Island, Olokola FTZ, Onne, Bonny — before consultants identified Badagry as the most suitable location for the dockyard.

Observers of Nigeria’s maritime sector have long lamented the absence of an operational dockyard to cater for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. Existing dockyards can only handle smaller vessels.

The absence of such a facility has meant that owners of large vessels in Nigeria and the West African sub region, have had to pay large sums of money to access docking facilities located mainly in Asia, Europe and the Americas, that can accommodate such large vessels.

The dry-dock is also planned to be operated and managed according to best international standards, and when completed, will generate revenue and add jobs to the economy.

“I can confidently tell you that if we have a dockyard here, Nigeria LNG with its current 13 vessels in our fleet will be one of your patrons. When our company receives its six additional vessels from Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries, those vessels will also be maintained here. I have no doubt the other players in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry will also be looking to service and maintain their vessels at this ship yard once it becomes operational,” said Capt. Temi Okesanjo, Nigeria LNG’s General Manager, Shipping Division speaking to investors at the forum to discuss the potential of the proposed dockyard.

NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49%),  Shell Gas BV, SGBV, (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15%), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4%).

Read More

NLNG Securing Court Protection Order From US For LNG Finima/ Others

NLNG SHIP

BonnyGas Transport Ltd and Nigeria LNG Ltd. have taken steps before the Court in NewYork to protect their vessel LNG FINIMA and other assets from arrest orattachment by competing claimants seeking payment for the same parcel of fueldelivered to the vessel, after insolvency of the OW Bunker company contractedwith left the physical supplier unpaid.

The invoiced amount is being paid into Court to be released to the partyadjudged entitled to receive it, and in the meantime no steps can be takenagainst any Bonny Gas or NLNG assets.

This renders redundant an arrest order obtained last week by the physicalsupplier in Louisiana, and operations in the Bonny Gas fleet should be able tocontinue normally and without interruption by any of the competing claimants.

NLNGis owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government of Nigeria,represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49%), Shell Gas BV, SGBV, (25.6%), Total LNGNigeria Limited (15%), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4%).

KudoEresia-Eke

GeneralManager, External Relations Division

Read More

Filipino seafarers slam incompetence of Marina

MANILA, Philippines—More than a thousand seafarers, mostly belonging to the United Filipino Seafarers (UFS), on Wednesday condemned the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) for mismanaging the maritime industry with its gross incompetence and utter lack of concern to the welfare of seafaring Filipinos.

The UFS-led seafarers gathered in front of Marina offices in Manila on Wednesday morning to dramatize their protest over the agency’s incompetence and mismanagement.

Mock up models of caskets painted in black to symbolize the “death” of the maritime industry were also brought in by the ralliers.

UFS president and rally organizer Engr. Nelson Ramirez said Wednesday they could no longer take sitting down the incompetence and weak leadership in Marina, which put their livelihood and profession at grave risk.

“The Filipino seafarers are disgusted and worried. Disgusted over the lack of foresight of Marina to confront problems and provide solutions and worried that if such incompetence continues, we will end up with no jobs,” Ramirez said during the protest rally.

Ramirez said foremost of these is the move of Marina to replace the official Seafarers Identification and Record Books (SIRB) document being given to legitimate seafarers with a piece of paper called “SIR Sheet” or Seafarers Identification Record Sheet.

He said this is the first time in the entire world and only in the Philippines that a government maritime agency issued a piece of paper instead of the “book.”

The Seaman’s Book, Ramirez said, is vital and essential to a seaman when boarding a vessel for work.

Marina, which has been giving out the SIRB for years, suddenly finds itself in short supply of such important document and decided to issue the SIR Sheet instead.

Ramirez said seafarers are already carrying their “Lenten crosses” by joining daily long lines just to secure the SIRB document only to find out at the end of the line that the document has been replaced with a sheet of paper that would embarrass them before foreign port and immigration authorities.

“We seamen are worried that when we reach other countries to board the vessels we have found jobs in, we will not be allowed to leave the airport to go to the port where our ship is,” Ramirez explained.

Marina office in Manila. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

He added: “The authorities in the foreign country will find our MARINA pieces of paper strange and unfamiliar. Then, if we can get to our ships, the captains may not allow us to embark. This is the first time in the whole world that seamen carry sheets of paper instead of the passport looking Seaman’s Book. Only in the Philippines.”

Seafarers usually start queuing before midnight, long before the agency opens at 8 a.m. the next day.

Ramirez said seafarers also have to secure a Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) from Marina, which also takes a long time to obtain.

He said the unjustified shortage of the regular SIRB has resulted to the proliferation of fake Seaman’s Book and other seafaring certificates that are now being sold to unsuspecting victims.

Ramirez said Marina’s lack of foresight to resuscitate the dying local shipping industry and the agency’s lack of commitment on maritime safety have likewise contributed to the sorry state of the industry.

“Dahil sa unang tatlong buwan pa lang ni Dr. Max Mejia ay nagkaroon na kaagad ng dalawang major maritime disaster at nagkaroon na naman ng banggaaan ngayong bago sa Cavite. Idagdag pa ang promotion ng kapatid ni Atty. Bañas na ginawang head ng maritime safety na wala namang alam sa barko dahil driver lang dati (Because of the first three months of Dr. Max Mejia there have been two major maritime disaster already and recently, there’s a new collision in Cavite. Add to that the promotion of Atty. Bañas’ sibling who was made head of maritime safety but has no knowledge in shipping because he used to be a driver),” Ramirez said.

Ramirez has earlier filed a case against the Marina official for appointing relatives and close friends to juicy posts in the agency.

The UFS president said Marina’s weak leadership has compromised the livelihood of at least 80,000 seafarers currently serving in EU-flagged vessels with the imminent cancellation of their SCTW certificates as a result of the country’s failure to pass the second audit of EU’s European Maritime Safety Agency (Emsa) last October.

As a direct result of the Emsa failure, education and training certificates issued by the Philippine government to Filipino seafarers would no longer be honored by EU shipowners and regulators.

Ramirez said the future looks dimmer should Marina assume the maritime licensure function from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) pursuant to the new law recently passed assigning Marina as the single maritime agency.

“Ngayon pa lang, tagilid na ang industriya maritima at lalo ng lulubog sapagkat kukunin pa ng Marina ang licensure examination ng PRC, pati na ang CoC at CoE. Minadali ng Marina ang pagpatay ng ating industriya (As early as now, the maritime industry is on the edge and it will go down because Marina will get the licensure examination of the PRC, including the CoC and CoE. Marina is pushing for the early death of our industry),” he said.

R

Read More

Deferral of requirement for security awareness certification

Following the International Maritime Organisation's recommendations in Circular STCW7/Circ 21, the Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping has announced that where a seafarer on board a Cyprus-flagged ship has not received a security awareness certification or training on designated security duties,(1) the department will accept compliance with Section 13 of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code. This is a temporary concession that expires on January 1 2015.

No contract extending beyond July 1 2015 may be offered to a seafarer for service on board a Cyprus-flagged ship if the seafarer does not hold the relevant certifications.

For further information on this topic please contact Vassilis Psyrras at Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC by telephone (+357 25 110 000), fax (+357 25 110 001) or email (vassilis.psyrras@neocleous.com). The Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC website can be accessed at www.neocleous.com.

Endnotes

(1) In accordance with Regulation VI/6 of the Standard of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention and Section A-VI/6, Paragraphs 4 and 6, of the STCW Code.

Read More

Bangladesh ferry carrying hundreds sinks

A heavily-laden ferry capsized and sank in central Bangladesh on Thursday after being caught in a storm, leaving at least nine people dead and hundreds more missing, police and officials said.

“We are receiving confusing figures on how many passengers were on board when it sank, but the number could range from 200 to 350,” district government administrator Saiful Hasan told AFP.

“Nine bodies have been recovered so far,” he said of the accident on the river Meghna in Munshiganj district, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

Local police chief Ferdous Ahmed also confirmed the recovery of the nine bodies, including at least two of whom were women.

The vessel was travelling to the southern district of Shariatpur from Dhaka when it encountered problems and sank in the mid-afternoon, according to the police.

“The ferry is completely under water. We are now trying to locate it,” Ahmed said, adding that a salvage vessel and fire service divers were headed to the spot from the capital.

Hundreds of distraught relatives gathered on the banks of the river as the bodies were laid in lines in order to be identified, Ahmed said.

The local online newspaper Banglanews24.com quoted a survivor of the accident, Abdur Razzaq, as saying that the boat was hit by the storm suddenly and sank within minutes.

Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed with more than 230 rivers.

Experts blame poorly maintained vessels, flaws in design and overcrowding for most of the tragedies.

Storms known locally as Kalboishakhi often hit Bangladesh during the early summer months in the lead-up to the monsoon, which generally begins in the first week of June.

Boats are the main form of travel in much of Bangladesh’s remote rural areas, especially in the southern and northeastern regions.

Some 150 people were killed in the same district in March 2012 after a overcrowded ferry carrying about 200 passengers sank after being hit by an oil barge in the dead of night.

In 2011, 32 people were killed after a passenger vessel sank in the same river in the same district after colliding with a cargo ship.

At least 85 people drowned in 2009 when an overloaded triple-decker ferry capsized off Bhola Island in the country’s south.

Naval officials have said more than 95 percent of Bangladesh’s hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized boats do not meet minimum safety regulations.

A heavily-laden ferry capsized and sank in central Bangladesh on Thursday after being caught in a storm, leaving at least nine people dead and hundreds more missing, police and officials said.
“We are receiving confusing figures on how many passengers were on board when it sank, but the number could range from 200 to 350,” district government administrator Saiful Hasan told AFP.
“Nine bodies have been recovered so far,” he said of the accident on the river Meghna in Munshiganj district, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
Local police chief Ferdous Ahmed also confirmed the recovery of the nine bodies, including at least two of whom were women.
The vessel was travelling to the southern district of Shariatpur from Dhaka when it encountered problems and sank in the mid-afternoon, according to the police.
“The ferry is completely under water. We are now trying to locate it,” Ahmed said, adding that a salvage vessel and fire service divers were headed to the spot from the capital.
Hundreds of distraught relatives gathered on the banks of the river as the bodies were laid in lines in order to be identified, Ahmed said.
The local online newspaper Banglanews24.com quoted a survivor of the accident, Abdur Razzaq, as saying that the boat was hit by the storm suddenly and sank within minutes.
Ferry accidents are common in Bangladesh, which is criss-crossed with more than 230 rivers.
Experts blame poorly maintained vessels, flaws in design and overcrowding for most of the tragedies.
Storms known locally as Kalboishakhi often hit Bangladesh during the early summer months in the lead-up to the monsoon, which generally begins in the first week of June.
Boats are the main form of travel in much of Bangladesh’s remote rural areas, especially in the southern and northeastern regions.
Some 150 people were killed in the same district in March 2012 after a overcrowded ferry carrying about 200 passengers sank after being hit by an oil barge in the dead of night.
In 2011, 32 people were killed after a passenger vessel sank in the same river in the same district after colliding with a cargo ship.
At least 85 people drowned in 2009 when an overloaded triple-decker ferry capsized off Bhola Island in the country’s south.
Naval officials have said more than 95 percent of Bangladesh’s hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized boats do not meet minimum safety regulations.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/05/bangladesh-ferry-carrying-hundreds-sinks/#sthash.aFIbEack.dpuf

Read More

NIMASA’s seafarers’ e-verification will provide Nigerians employment

Stakeholders  in the maritime industry have said that the introduction of seafarers’ electronic verification by the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, will improve employment opportunity for the nation’s seafarers.

The stakeholders pointed out that the agency’s seafarers’ e-verification scheme would also enable the international community  that wants to employ any Nigerian seafarer to simply log on to the portal to ascertain the authenticity of such seafarer’s claim.

They charged NIMASA management to ensure that all seafarers whose contacts are in the portal are well trained and have the necessary competence to do the job for which they are certified.

National Secretary of Nigeria Ship-owners Association, NISA, Capt, Niyi Labinjo, described the innovation by the NIMASA management as a step in the right direction.

Labinjo noted that the new scheme, which he has personally tested, will eliminate time wasted by operators going to the agency’s office personally for verification.

According to Labinjo, “Is a good thing, it is very good. I like what I saw, I have tested it and I am happy with it. This means you do not have to go to them before you can check a particular seafarer. It is a good thing and it is long over-due. It is also important to note that the international maritime community can also take advantage of it.”

He further noted that the portal should help curb the recruitment of fake seafarers both in the country and outside the country.

Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of Maritime Media Limited, Asu Beks, praised the new scheme, saying that it has opened  the door for Nigerian seafarers in the international scene.

According to him, “I think what the Director General and management of NIMASA have done is to bring sanity to whole seafarers verification process in the country. I think it is a step in the right direction but again, I think this may have been prompted by the President General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Tony Nted.

Recall that the Akopolokemi had said that the initiative is part of the agency’s effort to ensure that operations of NIMASA are in line with acceptable international best practice. The DG had explained that the online verification system is more effective and much more reliable.

In his word: “Our commitment to ensure professionalism in the Nigeria maritime sector is unflinching and our goal is to attain maximum efficiency in the process of certificate verification, which can now be done in any part of the world at any time.”

Read More

Awesome video of the USMC(Marines) Silent Drill Team

Halftime of the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns game at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX. The Marines Corps silent drill platoon performs.

Read More