The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), Nigeria Chapter, has claimed that no bank in the country is capable of giving a loan for the purchase of a sea-worthy ship.
This was according to the Chairman of ICS, Dr Chris Ebare, who decried the numerous shipwrecks in the waterways as a result of lack of standard ships in the country.
He also noted that there is no Nigerian bank today that can give “you any loan to buy a good sea-worthy vessel”, adding that the banks do not have the capacity.
“How many Nigerian ship owners can acquire a vessel worth $350m or $850m? You mentioned wrecks on waterways. Let me give you a classical example. How much does a new Prado cost in Nigeria today? It is around N50m. With that money, you will get a brand-new Prado that can go to the East or any part of the country you want to go to.
“If I now give you N1.5m, you will buy a car but not a standard one. That is just the explanation of what is happening,” Ebare illustrated.
In a bid to proffer a solution, the chairman charged ship owners in the country to partner their foreign counterparts in the acquisition of standard ships.
He emphasised: “What they need is to collaborate with these big foreign shipping companies that have the financial muscles.
“Open the Cabotage Law, let it be free for all so that our ship owners can collaborate with these people and partner with those that can lend them money.”
Meanwhile, Ebare blamed the incessant insecurity in the country for contributing largely to the drop in cargo exports.
He, however, highlighted that the Cabotage Law is not in favour of Nigerian ship owners.
“First and foremost, the major reason for the cargo drop is insecurity in the country.
“Some of my friends that used to export cashew nuts from the North-Central and the North-East can no longer go there. For a whole month, local farmers could no longer go to these places and harvest these food products and export them.”
He said those were some of the challenges, noting that before now, exporters would export charcoal from the South-East region, but these things are no longer there.
“On the issue of lack of ship financing,” he outlined, “I will blame it on the rigidity and backwardness of our Cabotage Law.”
Ebare hinted that the nation’s Cabotage Law does not help indigenous shipowners at all. He described it as too protectionist, hence, killing the vessels, the economy and the maritime industry. “They should open it and let it be free for all,” he recommended.