NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adedoyin Afun and Michael Abiiba, Bloomfield LP
• the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, 1976 and the 1996 Protocol thereto (LLMC); and • the Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1971 and its Protocol of 1992. Other Nigerian laws relating to pollution include: • the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, Cap E12, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN), 2004; • the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency Act, 2007; • the NIMASA Act; • the Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Regulations 2012; • the Convention Regulations 2012; • the Anti-Fouling Systems Regulations 2012; and • the Prevention of Oil Pollution Regulations 2012. Wreck Removal The MSA (Part XXVI – Sections 360 to 368) is the primary domestic legislation governing the liabil - ity of owners and interested parties for wreck removal in Nigeria. Particularly, Section 364 of the MSA provides that where any wreck is deter - mined to constitute a hazard, the Receiver of Wreck shall ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to mark the wreck. Section 365 of the MSA then places the responsibility for the removal of any ship that becomes a wreck on her owners. Nigeria is a signatory to the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007 (the Nairobi Convention”). However, the Nairobi Con - vention does not have the force of law in Nigeria, as the National Assembly has yet to enact legis -
lation to domesticate the Nairobi Convention, as required by the Constitution. 2.2 International Conventions: Collision and Salvage The MSA has domesticated the following inter - national conventions, which will impact the liabil - ity of owners and interested parties in the event of collision and salvage: • the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS); • the 1988 Protocol relating to SOLAS and Annexes I to V thereto; • the Search and Rescue Convention, 1979; and • the International Convention on Salvage, 1989. The MSA, in Sections 337 to 342, provides for liability in collision cases; in particular, Section 344 provides that the damages recoverable by the claimant in a collision case shall be the res - toration of the claimant back to the same posi - tion as it would have been had the collision not occurred. In relation to salvage, Sections 386 to 404 of the MSA provide for the remuneration of a salvor and protection of a salvor’s claim. Other Nigerian laws on collision and salvage include: • the Merchant Shipping (Collision) Rules, 2010, modelled after the Convention on Inter - national Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGS); • the Merchant Shipping (Wrecks and Salvage) Rules, 2010; • the AJA; • the Admiralty Jurisdiction Procedure Rules, 2023 (AJPR); • the Cabotage Act; and
401 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook