Indigenous Oil Tanker Owners May Be Out Of Jobs By 2015

• IMO Single Hull Vessels Phase Out Draws Near

Following the International Maritime Organization (IMO) decision to phase out all single-hull crude tankers by year 2015, investigations have revealed that Nigerian indigenous oil tanker owners may suffer a major blow from the decision as 90 percent of oil vessels operating on Nigerian waters are single hull.
A reliable source at the nation’s apex regulatory agency; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) told Shipping Position Daily last week that "90% of the tankers on Nigerian waters are single hull and by this time next year they will be phased out".
According to him, except the government proposes a way out of the dilemma, the country's petroleum sector will be in serious trouble because apparently there is no replacement for these vessels.According to the source, the establishment of classification societies in Nigeria is not also a feasible proposal at this time because there are not enough vessels owned by indigenous ship owners.
IMO specifies that tankers of single hull construction should be phased out or converted to a double hull according to a schedule based on their year of delivery. The double hull requirements for oil tankers are principally designed to reduce the risk of oil spills from tankers involved in low energy collisions or groundings.
However according to IMO, NIMASA as flag administration in Nigeria may allow continued operation of a single-hull oil tanker of 600 DWT and above but less than 5,000 DWT, carrying HGO as cargo, if, in the opinion of the Administration, the ship is fit to continue such operation, having regard to the size, age, operational area and structural conditions of the ship, provided that the operation shall not go beyond the date on which the ship reaches 25 years of age after the date of its delivery.
“The Administration may also exempt an oil tanker of 600 DWT and above carrying HGO as cargo if the ship is either engaged in voyages exclusively within an area under the Party's jurisdiction, or is engaged in voyages exclusively within an area under the jurisdiction of another Party, provided the Party within whose jurisdiction the ship will be operating agrees. The same applies to vessels operating as floating storage units of HGO”
“A Party to MARPOL 73/78 can deny entry into the ports or offshore terminals under its jurisdiction of single-hull tankers carrying HGO which have been allowed to continue operation under the exemptions mentioned above, or deny ship-to-ship transfer of heavy grade oil in areas under its jurisdiction except when this is necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea” it said
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily on this development last week, Former President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Captain Adewale Ishola said that next year is going to be big problem for the petroleum sector because most of the ships used are single hull.
He told our correspondent via telephone that “It is going to be a big problem because most of our ships are all single hall, if it is implemented in Nigeria, it will amount to difficulties, you need some heavy amount of money to buy a double hall vessel and new ships cost a lot of money”
Capt Ishola advised that what government can do is to assist the vessels that are just trading within Nigeria’s Cabotage region by giving them annual review of the conditions and allow them to still trade within the waters. He however noted that these vessels cannot go on international trade because they will be violating the international law.
“The ship owners are aware, they have been aware for the past four years, and NIMASA has not been registering vessels with single hull the past few years just to let ship owners be aware” he said
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