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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Shipping companies abandon vessels without restraint in Nigeria |
| 2018-08-26 |
| [DW] There is growing concern over the frequency at which unseaworthy and unserviceable ships are being dumped in Nigeria's territorial waters. Shipwrecks have been a problem at Alpha Beach for years, with the ownership of the abandoned vessels hard to establish. Public outcry over coastal erosion caused by the abandoned ships prompted the Lagos State government to clear the shipwrecks from the beach but the problem keeps re-emerging. The remains of the vessels are no longer there but the environmental damage they caused persists. "We always cite the example of Alpha Beach. It no longer exists,” said Philip Jakpor of Environmental Rights Action. "Some years ago, there were dozens of ships abandoned there and, before you knew it, the waters continue to come inland and ate up all the coconut trees on the banks. Today, those coconut trees are not there. Today, the houses that were close to the sea are no longer there,” Jakpor told DW. LEGAL BUREAUCRACY The owners of unserviceable ships are believed to find it more convenient to dump them in Nigeria rather than properly dispose them off. Master mariner, Captain Ezekiel Ishola, says legal bureaucracy sometimes prevents authorities from clearing the wrecks. "If they don't declare them as wrecks nobody can touch those ships. Yes, because they have owners,” Ishola told DW. "So, if the Nigerian Port Authority or Customs want to handle these vessels now, they must give notice that are going to take care of these ships since they have become a danger to navigation – otherwise the ship owner can come and sue,” he told DW. Prosecutions for abandoned vessels never occur and responsibility for removing the wrecks usually falls to the government. The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has warned the local and international shipping community of sanctions in the event of an abandon vessel in Nigeria's territory. |
| Posted by:Fred |