By Stephen Ubanna
In spite of moves by past and present Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to improve patronage of the south eatern ports of Onne, Warri, PortHarcourt and Calabar, Foreign shipping companies are still weary of sending their ocean-going vessels to these ports considered to be ‘’unsafe and insecure’’.It was not surprising why the southern eastern ports over the years have all continued to experience ‘’unmitigated doldrums in their operations and cargo throughput’’.
Worried by the ugly situations at the south eastern ports, Oyetola Adegboyega, a former governor of Osun state and now minister of Marine and Blue Economy, had promised to give NPA, all the necessary backing ‘’to address the factors responsible for the underutilization of these ports and other national assets at the south eastern ports of the country. The minister had said that the Federal Government had budgeted N1 billion too support NPA, to address the nation’s ports challenges.
Charles Okrorefe, Maritime University , Okerenkoko, Delta state, may have it the nail on the head when he disclosed that the major factors for this doldrums and low cargo throughput at the south eastern ports is ‘’insecurity across the waterways and channels to these ports’’.
The University Don, who spoke on ‘’Security Concerns in the Development of Nigerian’s Maritime Industry’’ at a one day Seminar organized by the League of Maritime Editors, LOME, in Lagos, the nation’s Commercial nerve Centre, that was said to have been attended by Captains of the industry, had said that the waterways to the south eastern ports have experienced criminal attacks on ocean going vessels. Suffice it to say that there have been cases of piracy, sea robbery, kidnapping, crude oil theft, illegal fishing, smuggling, human trafficking, trade in narcotics and illegal arms. He noted that these have served ‘’to undermine the security architecture of the nation’s maritime system and the development of the ports’’.
Given an insider information as a maritime operator with several years of experience in the field, he had listed the various maritime crimes committed across all facets of the nation’s maritime industry, to include port paperwork, port operation, and obstruction during sea voyages, and information transmission from port of origin to destination ports, particular, ports in the south eastern region. Cyber crimes
The Maritime University Okerenkoko, Lecturer was said to have also pointed out that there are systems at the nation’s seaports that vulnerable to maritime cyber criminals like bridge systems, cargo handling and management systems, propulsion and machinery management systems, power control, and access control. He was said to have also highlighted other maritime crimes committed at the nation’s seaport which includes passenger servicing, administrative, crew welfare and obstructions to Communications systems.
Okrorefe, was said to have cited some of the maritime cyber-attacks in other parts of the world. One of such attacks on a Maersk line vessel, was said to have occurred in 2017. It was said to have cost the foreign shipping giant the North American country of the United States, US, $200 million to rectify the damage caused by the criminals to their vessel in order to promptly resume sea voyage.
MSC Shipping Line vessel, according to him, had suffered from a Malware attack in 2020, which maritime analysts had caused network outage at the Company’s Geneva Headquarters, thus disrupting their operations. There are indications that Malware Data infiltration and damaged operational systems at the Shahid Rajaee port in the Middle East country of Iran, in June, 2020, had crashed the Computer system of the port and created massive transport chaos on the straight of Hormuz for days.
Recall that in 2023, Ransomware cyber criminals, alone, were said to have extorted payments in excess of Us 1 billion from their victims, much of it from the global maritime industry. The Value News findings shows that the cyber criminals seem to be a step ahead in the use of technology to destabilize the ports operations by hacking into the systems of ocean going vessels.
The Cyber Criminals, may have made a bold statement that they are unstoppable I their illegal business at the ports in different parts of the world as they were said to have persistently disarmed security operatives their alarm systems. This is evident in the case of the Bulk Carrier , Grebe Bulker, which was said to have bee attacked by the pirates at Owendo Anchorage in the West African country of Gabon, on June 0, 202.
The pirates could no longer muster the muscle to attack ocean going vessels in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea between 2022 and now. This is because Nigeria, which is a signatory to the Gulf of Guinea Commission, GGC, which also includes Angola, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Precipe, Cotd’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Togo and Sierra Leone, which objectives include: establishment of mutual confidence and enthronement of peace and security across the region appears to have encouraged the most populous West African country which have the maritime assets to guarantee peace and security I in the Gulf of Guinea region.
There is no gain saying the fact that Nigeria controls more than 70% of trade and commerce in the West and Central African sub-regions alone, which many believe constitutes the soul of the region and has the military might of securing the region. Oyetola, the Marine and Blue Economy , minister is optimistic that the six mooring boats used by the Authority to safe berth and unberth vessels was the government ‘s way of further enhancing the security and safety of the nation’s maritime space.
Note that the former President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration, had engaged the Israeli Firm, HLSI, Security Systems and Technologies Limited, in 201, to supply US the195 million , maritime security assets comprising of 17 Interceptor Boats, I6 Coastal Patrol vehicles, two Special Mission Vessels, Two Special Mission Aircrafts, for surveillance of Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ, Maritime Intelligence Systems, three helicopters and four unmanned Aerial vehicles for ground operations and trained personnel for swift intervention purposes for the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection and Computer Centre, popular, Dee Blue Project , domiciled in Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Administration, NIMASA , under the Leadership of Dayo Mobereola.
The maritime security assets , equipped with digital gadgets, according to an insider is capable of monitoring the movement of vessels around Nigeria territorial waters and the entire of Gulf of Guinea region. It was not surprising why the Nigerian Navy, which has Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, which manages and operates the maritime assets had used its intelligence and superior fire power to gurantee maximum security for the subsistence of the nation’s fledgling trade, foiled pirates attack on the Asian country of China fishing vessel in June 2020, during the Administration, of Bashir Jamoh, the Director General of the NIMASA.
There was also a case of the interdiction by the Nigerian Navy of a Chinese vessel fishing illegally in the Gulf of Guinea region. The vessel, which was said to have had 51 Crew members on board made up of 48 Ghanaians, and three SouthKoreans, had switched off her Automatic Identification System, AIS, to evade identification act which was against the international protocol at sea was eventually arrested and had handed over the appropriate Authorities for further investigation and action.
Indeed, through the instrumentality of the military force, the Nigeria Navy, without prevarication in order to secure the nation’s waterways and channels and safer navigation appears to have successfully reviewed the system of engaging theses criminal elements at sea forcing many of go underground.
