The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has prescribed pragmatic measures for ship owners and seafarers to adopt in order to improve their safety and security at sea.
Navy Director of Information, Commodore Suleman Dahun, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said Ibas, represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Naval Headquarters, Rear Adm. Begroy Ibe-Enwo gave the charge at the West African Shipping Summit at the ongoing International Shipping Week in London on Tuesday.
According to the statement Ibas adviced seafarers and ship owners to employ evasive manoeuvres, optimal speed, use of citadels, use of Safe Anchorage Areas and convoy protection where available.
He told the audience that as buttressed by the International Maritime Bureau, there have been a progressive decline in the number of piracy attacks with most of these attacks not being successful,
Ibas noted that the decline in successful attacks was as a result of Nigerian Navy’s (NN) intensified efforts at securing Nigeria’s maritime environment.
He however said that notwithstanding, some successful piracy attacks occasionally occured in Nigerian waters and indeed the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
The CNS called for more proactive actions by the Nigerian Navy and stakeholders in order to rid Nigeria’s maritime environment of all forms of criminalities.
Ibas observed that most of the issues involved in the security of Nigeria’s maritime domain stemmed from non-military causes which usually manifest in the form of piracy.
