Given recent boat capsizes in some states, waterway stakeholders and operators nationwide are calling for continued training of boat captains to limit boat accidents.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that some coastal states have recently experienced boat capsizes due to lack of maintenance, irregular removal of weeds, wrecks and other obstructions from waterways.
Lack of proper dredging and channeling of waterways and non-enforcement of waterway codes are also other causes of boat capsizing.
Others attributed the capsizing of the boats to the permanent floods, which mainly affect states such as Lagos, Kogi, Niger, Rivers, Oron to Akwa-Ibom, Kebbi and Benue.
In Lagos, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) have renewed their commitment to ending waterway accidents in the state.
Lagos Area NIWA Officer, Mrs. Sarat Braimoh said that further training of boat captains and their license to drive professionally will reduce waterway accidents in the state.
Braimoh said NIWA is already engaging boat and ferry captains in quarterly training, especially in the south of the country.
“We are about to start training ferry and boat captains in the northern regions. We also organize regular security awareness campaigns in all regions of the country.
“NIWA also conducts regular safety and compliance patrols of the waterways. Our authority has also established nine search and rescue stations.
“Our authority will establish more search and rescue stations this year, in various locations in Lagos, Lokoja, Port Harcourt, Yauri, New Bussa, to name but a few.
“These stations are intended not only to warn, but also to react immediately and provide relief in a timely manner.”
Braimoh said the collaboration with NiMET was key to sharing weather hazard information, which would help prevent shipping in bad weather.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel said that the continued removal of wrecks and obstacles from the waterways will prevent the boat from capsizing in Lagos.
Emmanuel explained that LASWA generally engages boat and ferry captains as well as deckhands in quality training and retraining with proper dredging, channeling of waterways, implementation of waterway safety code .
The head of LASWA said the agency is also engaged in the continued cleanup of water hyacinth in the Lagos waterways.
Emmanuel said fixed or portable GPS, harbor and shore lights as well as boat radar would help boat operators navigate the waters efficiently.
The Chief Executive said there is an opportunity for LASWA to work with the Nigeria Meteorological Agency to raise awareness about the weather to guide operators against flooding and boat capsizing.
“Lagos State Government is engaging the government and local boat builders in training in line with industry best practices,” he said.
He said the agency would sanction and prosecute owners of abandoned logs, wrecks, fishing nets and obstacles.
Emmanuel said there are also penalties for dredge operators who do not fully submerge their dredge pipes, causing boats to capsize.
“To address the issue of boat capsizing, LASWA is committed to the constant removal of wrecks and obstructions from the state’s waterways.
“LASWA is also involved in the manual and material water hyacinth cleaning workshop, sensitization and training of captains.
“Others are the deckhand responsible for signaling, dredging and channeling waterways.”
Emmanuel said he has also set up search and rescue units with well-trained officers and community outreach programs to educate nearby residents about the dangers of dumping trash and fishing nets on the tracks. navigable.
In the South-South, boat operators have appealed to state governments in the area to ensure periodic removal of water hyacinths from water channels to reduce incidents of boat capsizing.
They urged state governments to set up bodies to carry out the task of clearing the canals of debris from sunken boats, engines and metals to prevent boat accidents.
The Chairman of Godspower Jetty in Warri, Delta, Mr. Timi Cletus, said some boat operators had lost control of their vessels while trying to navigate waters covered in water hyacinths which often led to accidents.
“The issue of water hyacinths is a major issue in our business.
“It’s a challenge in the sense that some boat drivers try to avoid bluebells and in the process lose control or collide with objects,” he said.
Another boat operator, Mr Temisan Omatseye, urged the state government to help enforce the rules and regulations governing water transport.
“Some of us don’t follow the rules that govern the boat business. They drive recklessly.
“There should also be periodic redirection of boat operators by the state government and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) on the need to avoid recklessness,” it said.
In addition, Mr. Ezekiel Opukeme, a resident, urged the state government to provide boat operators with enough safety vests to save the lives of passengers and crew in the event of an accident.
A respondent in Port Harcourt, Rivers, Mr Ebi Theo said the government was not concerned about the plight of boat operators.
He urged the government to enhance synergy with sub-sectors of the maritime industry to prevent boat accidents through training, certification, provision of safety equipment and sanitation on the waterways. navigable.
“Wreckage of sunken boats, engines and metals could also be disastrous in the event of collusion.
“The government should oversee the relevant authorities in charge of sanitation on our rights of way to improve free navigation,” he said.
A traditional leader from Asarama, a riverside community in Rivers, Chief Asuk-Okpon, suggested a weekly orientation program for boat drivers by the maritime authority.
Asuk-Okpon said such programs would allow them to understand the peculiarities of weather conditions within the given time frame.
“Drivers should be aware that during the rainy season there is a particular need to collaborate with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) on weather reports.
“Unfortunately, boat operators here have not yet adopted the technology in their operations; they always use local and crude methods thus exposing passengers to avoidable accidents,” he said.
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa, another boat operator, Mr Ebimie Tonye, said the boat capsizes most of the time due to overloading, debris in the waterways and night travel.
Tonye said capsizing and falling overboard could be minimized if boat operators complied with maritime regulations.
He called on the government to ensure periodic cleaning of the water channels to minimize boat accidents and loss of life.
For his part, the Chairman of Maritime Transport, Nembe, Mr. Ebinyo Alagoa, also identified speeding as one of the causes of boat accidents, and warned against it to avoid such ugly occurrences. Ms. Eunice Ezeoke, President, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) called for proper regulation of the water transport sector to stem the recurring boat capsizes in the country.
Ezeoke said that “to operate a passenger boat or a ferry you have to be certified, there has to be proper training and certification, and certification doesn’t have to be a one-time thing.”
“This training can be done annually to ensure the operator always remembers what they are doing and operating with the standard
“The regulator must always inspect the boat, its engine and the like to ensure that the craft was in good condition.
“There must be regular maintenance, a proper and functioning life jacket for passengers and two, three minutes of conversation as has been done with the boat in case any issues arise on what needs to be done,” he said. she declared.
The Reverend Jonathan Nicole, a shipping shipper and actor, urged the water transport regulator to ensure standards were met across the business.
Nicole pointed out that the boats some of the operators were using were not suitable for human transport, which resulted in some boats capsizing.
(NOPE)
