The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has reaffirmed its commitment to improving the welfare and professional development of Nigerian seafarers through stronger collaboration with maritime stakeholders, including the Mission to Seafarers (MtS).
NIMASA Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, stated this when he received the Chairman of the Mission to Seafarers Lagos Management Committee, Chief Adebayo Sarumi, OON, and the Regional Director, Mission to Seafarers Africa, Reverend Cedric Rautenbach, during a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters in Lagos.
Representing the Director-General, NIMASA Executive Director, Operations, Engr. Fatai Taiye Adeyemi, said the agency would continue to implement policies and initiatives aimed at strengthening seafarers’ welfare, certification, capacity development and career advancement.
He said NIMASA would deepen collaboration with organisations such as the Mission to Seafarers to ensure that Nigerian seafarers receive adequate support both at sea and in ports.
Sarumi commended NIMASA for its ongoing reforms in the maritime sector and expressed the Mission’s readiness to strengthen cooperation with the agency. He said the Mission to Seafarers remains committed to providing welfare, pastoral care and practical support to seafarers worldwide.
Rautenbach noted that although the Mission to Seafarers and the Port Welfare Committee have different mandates, both share the goal of improving the welfare of maritime workers. He called for greater collaboration among stakeholders to strengthen support services for seafarers visiting Nigerian ports.
The meeting focused on seafarers’ welfare, decent working conditions and areas of mutual cooperation, with both organisations agreeing on the need to strengthen welfare support within Nigeria’s maritime sector.
NIMASA said it would continue to safeguard the rights and welfare of Nigerian seafarers in line with international best practices and the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.