– Seeks cooperation of refinery operators, fuel oil suppliers

Daniel Terungwa

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has expressed its determination to ensure availability of marine fuels that comply with the regulation by the International Maritime Organisation, IMF, limiting the sulphur in the fuel oil used on board ships to 0.50 per cent m/m (mass by mass).

The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, stated this recently in Lagos at the opening of a two-day meeting of the Agency with modular and other refinery operators and fuel oil suppliers in the country.

Jamoh who was represented by the Acting Head, Marine Environment Management (MEM) Department, NIMASA, Mr. Isa Mudi, said the Agency had made deliberate effort to conform to the new fuel oil mandate, known as IMO 2020.

 “As the country’s shipping regulator, we have had interfaces with the relevant stakeholders on how to reach a win-win agreement on Nigeria’s compliance with the IMO sulphur content cap. We are happy to announce that the coast is clear for us to achieve this mandate.

“Nigeria has an advantage ab initio, because we produce low sulphur crude. The challenge for us now is conversion of this advantage to availability of bunker fuels that meet the IMO mandate,” said Jamoh.

The DG boosted that Nigeria possess the capacity to become the bunker fuel hub for Sub-Saharan Africa and that there is a $2 billion bunker fuel market in Sub-Saharan Africa waiting to be harnessed by the country’s business men and women.

Jamoh added, “Our refineries are not working at full-capacity, and this is an opportunity for the modular and other private refineries to come in to fill a vital gap in the marine fuel supply chain. Bunker fuel is a critical element in the shipping business.

“With the coming into effect of IMO 2020, we assure you