NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adedoyin Afun and Michael Abiiba, Bloomfield LP
tor to undertake the registration of the ship mortgage; • a board resolution of owners, authorising the mortgage (corporate owners only); • a duly signed and sealed NIMASA mortgage form, with stamp duty paid; • an executed deed of mortgage, duly stamped; and • a copy of a Certificate of Registration of Mort - gage, as issued by the CAC. For registration of a ship mortgage with the CAC, the required documents include: • a formal letter of application by the ship-own - er or their authorised representative • an executed deed of mortgage, duly stamped; • a duly signed and sealed statutory Form CAC 9 (Particulars of Charge), with stamp duty paid; • a board resolution of owners, authorising the ship mortgage.; and • evidence of payment to the CAC of the required statutory fees. Foreign Mortgages A duly registered foreign mortgage on a foreign- owned and bareboat-chartered vessel (that is duly registered under the Nigerian flag) may be notated at the NSRO for the duration of the bare - boat charter to a Nigerian citizen or a Nigerian body corporate or partnership. For notation of a registered foreign mortgage on a foreign-owned and bareboat-chartered vessel (that is duly registered under the Nigerian flag) with the NSRO, the required documents include: • a formal letter of application by the mortga - gee or its authorised representative – in prac - tice, the mortgagee would have authorised
its solicitor to undertake the notation of the foreign registered ship mortgage; • an executed copy of the foreign law-governed deed of mortgage; • a copy of the transcript of registry (or any other similar document) confirming the reg - istration of the foreign law-governed deed of mortgage with the relevant foreign ship registry; and • evidence of payment to the NIMASA of the prescribed fees for foreign mortgage notation. 1.7 Ship Ownership and Mortgages Registry In Nigeria, the ship-ownership and mortgage registries are not available to the public. A person who is not the owner of a vessel must apply formally to the NSRO to conduct a search on the status of registration of a ship or mort - gage over a ship. 2. Marine Casualties and Owners’ Liability 2.1 International Conventions: Pollution and Wreck Removal Pollution Pursuant to Section 12 of the Constitution, every Convention is required to be domesticated by the National Assembly before it can have force of law in Nigeria. Section 335(1)(i) of the MSA domesticated some international conventions that govern the liability of owners and interested parties for pollution by vessels, including: • the International Convention for the Preven - tion of Pollution from Ships, 1973/1978 and the annexes thereto; • the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage 1992;
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