Maritime stakeholders in the country have stressed the need for more concentration on advanced technologies that will entrench a new era of shipping activities that guarantee a clean environment.
The stakeholders, who spoke at the 2022 Lagos International Maritime Week in Lagos, said that green shipping entails improving the environment of the sea by ensuring the least amount of carbon emissions and other gases caused by the burning of fuel by ships.
Minister of Transportation, Muazu Zambo, said the value of technology in maritime cannot be over-emphasised, noting that shipping is the most effective way of moving goods all over the world.
Zambo, who was represented by the Director, Maritime Safety and Security, Ministry of Transport, Babatunde Bombata, said advanced technology must be holistically adopted to make the maritime business viable.
He stressed the need for governments and regulators to sustain the improvement and investment in technology, adding that technology is crucial to reducing port congestion and competing favourably among maritime nations.
Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said the state appreciated the efforts and progress being made to align the maritime industry with the greener industries that ensure a sustainable future for shipping.
Sanwo-Olu, represented by Mrs Patience Ogunnubi, member, of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials, said the world was gravitating toward innovation and new technologies that support the green transition of the maritime sector.
She said Nigeria and, indeed, Africa could not afford to be left behind. “This is more important when juxtaposed with the centrality of the maritime sector to the Nigerian economy,” she stated.
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral, Awal Gambo, represented by Real Admiral HB Kaoje, said the use of Information Communication Technology by the Nigerian Navy to curb maritime insecurity in the gulf of Guinea has helped to achieve a lot. He said the maritime domain awareness system has drastically curbed piracy on Nigerian water and in the Gulf of Guinea.
Executive Secretary, Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), Adenike Ukonga, said the countries in the region signed into a treaty to establish common security to boost economic integration of the region.
She said the region, with its resources, living and non-living, as well as hydrocarbon, if optimally tapped can serve as a major source of revenue to sustain the economies of member nations.
She expressed delight that illegal pirate activities have reduced drastically in recent months, encouraging collaboration among stakeholders in a mutually beneficial manner.
Organiser of the event and Chairman, Zoe Marite Resources Limited, Oritsematosan Edodo Emore, said the maritime policies of African countries must undergo a paradigm shift from dwelling on individual modes of transport and development in silos to a new strategy that embraces a balanced and integrated, modally complementary transport system that will not only take account of sustainability and technological challenges but which also takes into account the wider multiple uses of the oceans.
Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Kingsley Moghalu, said, “the time is now, Nigeria and the entire global shipping industry must adopt new technologies to enhance greener shipping.”
He emphasised that cleaner energy should be adopted for vessel engines to reduce combustion and reduce emission, be more efficient and preserve the environment.
