NIMASA reviewing seafarer training curriculum…to begin issuing Nigerian seafarers unlimited class of CoC by 2023

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency(NIMASA) would begin to issue unlimited class of Certificate of Competency(CoC) to Nigerian seafarers  by the first quarter of 2023.

Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, disclosed this in Lagos during a meeting with shipowners, facilitated by the Minister of State for Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki.

Jamoh disclosed that the Agency had started reviewing the academic curriculum of seafarer training as it is currently issuing limited class of the CoC, in order to transmute into the desired upgraded class.

He said: “Currently, we are awarding limited COC, but we are upgrading it to unlimited. Why we are doing it like that is for us to open up our door for the international community to come in and partner with us.

“We are now reviewing our own curriculum for the international community to see and recognize us.

“As soon as we get the approval and nod from IMO, we would start issuing the unlimited. We are giving ourselves a timeline of between now and the first quarter of 2023.”

Jamoh, however, added that the Agency would not hesitate to reciprocate if any country rejects Nigeria’s CoC after the upgrade.

“Once we start issuing it, any country that rejects our own COC, we would also reciprocate,” he said.