The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has directed all registered stevedoring companies with operational areas allotted by the Nigerian Ports Authority, which are yet to start operation, to mobilise to their work locations.
This is as the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, warned the firms against compromising on insurance cover for their employees.
In a notice issued yesterday, NIMASA urged the affected companies to report any encumbrance to the agency, in line with the Stevedoring Regulation, 2014, gazetted by the Federal Government of Nigeria, developed pursuant to the NIMASA Act, 2007.
The agency equally notified all operators of ports, jetties, onshore or offshore oil and gas or bonded terminals, Inland Container Depots, offshore dock terminals, dry ports and platforms, as well as other work locations to grant duly appointed stevedoring companies access to their premises for commencement of operations. It said only corporate bodies registered in Nigeria would be allowed to employ dock labour or engage in stevedoring work on board or from ships.
“Such corporate entities must have satisfied the requirements for registration specified in the Stevedoring Regulation, 2014, and obtained a Stevedoring licence from NIMASA.
“Every dock labour employer or stevedoring company shall provide proper and safe working conditions for the convenience and proper working of its employees and ensure that all stevedoring plants and equipment supplied and being used in their operations are safe and in good condition,” the agency stated.
Employers of dock labour or stevedoring companies are mandated to provide adequate insurance cover for health, personal injury, loss of earnings, and compensation, relating to any incident affecting dockworkers or stevedores in the course of the work of the dock labour employer or the stevedoring company.
Jamoh warned that the guidelines set out in the Stevedoring Regulation, 2014, shall be enforced with appropriate penalties such as detention of vessels, sealing of operational area or work location and prosecution.
