An analysis of the effectiveness of security measures in Nigerian ports for reducing piracy and improving maritime safety.
1. Introduction
The analysis investigates the effectiveness of security measures in Nigerian ports in reducing piracy and improving maritime safety. The introduction provides a background on Nigerian ports and emphasizes the importance of maritime safety and reducing piracy. With 853 km of coastline and 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone, Nigeria is an important maritime nation with a busy and thriving maritime industry. The maritime industry in Nigerian ports comprises primarily of the operation of a river port, a dockyard, offshore service, a shipping company, and a firm of surveyors and loss adjusters. Shipping is the only way to connect the waterways effectively. Therefore, port facilities support the operations of ships and shipyard industries in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, according to Oluwale and Oluwabunmi (2008), port facility includes the equipment and devices directly related to vessel activity such as the terminal area, shipyard area, and mooring area. The various security measures that have been implemented in the Nigerian ports to effectively deal with global, environmental, technological changes, and some other emerging issues can be broadly categorized under two main headings, as being implemented before the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and those being implemented after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Since the main security aim of port security of an airport facility in Nigeria is to prevent the possibility of an individual causing damage or injury in order to gain unauthorized access, the International Ship and Ports Facility Security (ISPS) Code was introduced by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The full implementation of the International Ship and Ports Facility Security Code was a major step towards the development of a strong security framework that can address counter-terrorism and moves towards effective and efficient security in Nigerian ports and combating continually.
1.1 Background of Nigerian ports
However, Nigeria is a country with an outdated system of transport technology. Nigeria is a nationwide watershed, which is an advantage to posit a good port facility planning to consciously manage the river system to increase the use of water transportation. It is in that nexus that there is a need to critically examine the security measures put in place in our ports in Nigeria. Nigeria ports are operated and managed mainly by government institutions, but the major terminals are being operated as joint ventures with the private sector under the Landlord concept, which the Nigerian Port Authority retains the ownership of the facilities. The Nigerian Port Authority administers all ordinary port operations with respect to corporate and estate management and the outlay terminal operations. The port is to aid trade increases, provision, and improvements on the socio-economic development in the national’s hinterland, interconnecting it with the hinterland is necessary. The port includes airports, warehouses, roads, railway systems, and refineries and power plants. So, the Nigerian port is considered as an international achievement of the idea of a port system serving as an international trade center, freight traffic, and distribution of goods among shippers. There are seven major water ports that are owned and managed by the government. These are Lagos, Tincan, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar, Warri, and Sapele. But the Lagos port complex operates both the sea port and the airport. The port of Lagos accounts for over 70% of the nation’s imported goods. Such a large and significant port facility obviously needs security measures, and for many years different measures are in place to ensure operational efficiency and safety. The management of lands, water, and the environment of the Nigerian ports is constantly exposed to changing state of technology and new development from the maritime transport industry worldwide. The nature of providing key nodes on international trade and ensuring that ship, cargo, and port operations are fully secured and in compliance with the International Ship and Port Facilities Security Code is much challenging. However, the challenge of conforming the Nigerian ports to the international standards of safety and security that makes an impact in compliance is what will help enhance feasibility and efficiency in the maritime industry.
1.2 Importance of maritime safety
Maritime safety is a global issue that requires a collective effort by the international community. Ships are the most common means of transportation on water and are sailing 24×7. It is unrealistic to provide police, military, and other security forces everywhere: the sea is too large and the resources too scarce. On the other hand, if nothing is done regarding maritime security, terrorists could use the lack of security to their advantage; for example, shipborne or towed sonar arrays, underwater obstacles, and shore-based surveillance radars can be easily avoided and ships can potentially come close into a harbor with an improvised explosive device (IED). Any major incident at ports or sea can have a significant negative impact on countries around the world. For example, an attempt by al-Qaeda to attack ships in the strategic Malacca Strait, where 50,000 ships cross between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean every year, will upset the global trade system through the hike of insurance and freight costs. Although piracy and armed robbery at sea have declined in the first half of the year 2018, the number of kidnappings is on the rise in comparison to the same period of the year 2017 according to the report of IMB. It is a matter of great importance for the relevant stakeholders to understand the importance of ensuring maritime security, including maritime safety and marine environmental protection. This is not just a matter of individual countries deciding what laws they want to produce but of global safety and security through cooperation between different parts of the international community, including intervention by coast-guards and naval forces in the international waters.
1.3 Significance of reducing piracy
These organisations have assessed piracy threats in some regions and they have increasingly come to hold responsibility for doing this in the future. These insurers will be particularly concerned to ensure that ships have in place the security measures needed to provide a well-founded confidence that their crews and cargoes are as safe as possible. This may mean that they act with these organisations who remain effectively the regulators of ship-born security.
Nutshell Analysis:
The situation in respect of piracy and armed robbery at sea is the subject of ongoing and increasing scrutiny and it is likely that the level of regulation. The minimum requirements for security. For a party to be accepted as having the responsibility for assessing and deciding what is necessary for any given vessel, they must be a recognised organisation by the Secretary of State. Such organisations can act as verifiers of compliance. However, in a less dangerous part of the world with no piracy to speak of, there was no external monitoring or concern, it was an entirely internal process. Such rules on the exploration of piracy and repel activity could not be expressed unless external monitoring would take place. I think a legal regime for the definition and suppression of piracy could be considered if a State definition did not follow an international definition. The term was not initially defined by the treaty and the notion of universal jurisdiction suggested an absence of a legal definition.
Piracy activities, especially if they continue to happen at dangerous levels, could discourage investors from using the maritime transport system. If piracy leads to significant long-term physical or psychological damage to seafarers, this could discourage people from entering the profession and exacerbate the global shortage of seafarers. Classification societies and various non-governmental organisations.
2. Current Secu
The Impact of Terrorism on Maritime Security*
**The Impact of Terrorism on Maritime Security** Maritime security is a critical concern in today’s interconnected world. The vast size and highly unregulated nature of the world’s waterways have made the maritime environment an attractive theater for perpetrators of transnational violence. Both **piracy** and **sea-borne terrorism** have become more common since 2000 due to the […]
