NIMASA Director General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside (right), and the Managing Director, TMC Shipping Pvt. Limited and the Maritime Academy of India, Neeraj Kumar, displaying the Memorandum of Understanding between both organiations for on-board sea-time training for the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme graduates…in Lagos
Sixty graduates of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) will be participating in on-board sea-time training in India following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Maritime Academy of India and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Speaking during the signing of the agreement in Lagos last week, the NIMASA Director General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, re-stated the agency’s commitment to partnering international institutions for sea-time training for citizens under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).
“This MoU will help reduce the number of cadets awaiting sea-time training by clearing up the first 60 of the backlog in three batches of 20 each,” a statement from the Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Isichei Osamgbi, quoted Peterside to say.
He tasked the beneficiaries of the first batch of the scheme to be dedicated, disciplined and committed to making the best use of the opportunity to develop themselves and aid national development, adding: “We are proud that you will be joining the global merchant fleets.
“Be sure to represent Nigeria positively. We are determined to get all of your mates the much-needed sea-time. Under the current leadership of NIMASA, we are working very hard to provide sea-time for all that have gone through our NSDP.”
Peterside assured that the agency would explore and use appropriate avenues to give Nigerian seafarers the right exposure and training to excel in the global maritime space, adding that in the near future, Nigeria would be a supplier of qualified seafarers to the rest of the world.
He further disclosed that the agency was negotiating with other academies with access to ocean-going training vessels in Turkey and United Kingdom, among others, for same end, to replicate in Nigeria the progress recorded under similar partnerships by Philippines, among others, in providing seafarers for the international market.
On their part, the Managing Director, TMC Shipping Pvt. Limited and the Maritime Academy, Neeraj Kumar, commended NIMASA’s effort to develop the seafarers through the NSDP initiative.
Nigeria has no fewer than 2000 cadets under the NSDP scheme, with many at various stages of programme completion. Some have done the on-board sea time training under the first phase of the NIMASA fully-sponsored programme.
These were facilitated alongside the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Marine Transportation in Alexandria, Egypt, as well as on-board training for another set of cadets by the South Tyneside College, UK, beside the partnership with universities in The Philippines.
