NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adedoyin Afun and Michael Abiiba, Bloomfield LP
• claims for insurance premiums, or for mutual insurance calls, in relation to a ship, or goods or cargoes carried by a ship; and • claims for salvage, general average, pilotage, towage, port and harbour dues. 1.2 Port State Control The Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for West and Central African Region (the “Abuja MoU”) applies to Nigeria, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is Nigeria’s port state control agency. The NIMASA’s general port state control pow - ers and authorities, pursuant to the NIMASA Act, the Merchant Shipping Act 2007 (MSA) (which domesticates several maritime conventions, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)) and other relevant legislations, include powers to: • board, inspect and search any vessel and to detain any vessel within the Nigerian maritime zone; • demand the production of any licence, per - mit, record, certificate or any other document; • expel any vessel which may endanger the safety of the Nigerian maritime zone; and • enter ports, terminals and vessels to investi - gate matters related to maritime labour, ship safety and security. In relation to marine casualties, the NIMASA is authorised and empowered to: • provide search-and-rescue services; • receive and remove wrecks; • make enquiries as to shipwrecks, other casualties affecting ships, or as to charges of incompetence or misconduct on the part of seafarers in relation to those casualties;
• issue regulations relating to the prevention of the dumping of ship and shore-generated waste in Nigerian waters and governing the removal of wrecks which constitute naviga - tion risks; and • issue regulations governing the carriage of harmful substances by sea. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration The registration of vessels under the Nigerian flag is primarily governed by the MSA. Other rel - evant legislations include the NIMASA Act and the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003 (the “Cabotage Act”). The Nigerian Ship Registration Office (NSRO) (domiciled within NIMASA and under the con - trol of the Registrar of Ships) is responsible for the domestic registration of vessels in Nigeria. 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels Under Section 18 (1) of the MSA, the registration of vessels under the Nigerian flag is limited to vessels wholly owned by (i) Nigerian citizens, (ii) bodies corporate and partnerships established under and subject to Nigerian law and having their principal place of business in Nigeria, and (iii) such other persons as the Minister of Trans - portation (the “Minister”) may, by regulation, prescribe. Notwithstanding, Section 19(6)–(9) of the MSA permits a foreign-owned vessel, which is bare - boat-chartered for more than one year to a Nigerian citizen or a Nigerian body corporate or partnership to be registered under the Nigerian flag as a Nigerian ship for the duration of the bareboat charter. This is, however, subject to the suspension of the foreign flag of the foreign-
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