1,843 cadets complete sea time development training

Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has disclosed that over 243 and 1,600 cadets have completed their programmes at various stages of their training out of which 887 are ready for sea time training.
Peterside disclosed this during the flag-off of NIMASA-sponsored sea time training for Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) cadets for Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Marine Transport, Alexandria, Egypt.
According to him, sea-time training is a critical aspect of the training of seafarers as it entails practical on-board training on sea going vessels, with cadets spending a minimum of nine to 12 months on board ocean going vessels.
“As some of you may already know, berth spaces are not easy to come by. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges we had was sourcing for berth spaces for the cadets, coupled with the desire of this administration to follow due process in all our dealings. We are pleased that we did not fall into the temptation of taking short cuts at any time. We have therefore engaged various maritime training institutions to provide this essential service,” he said.
Expressing delight in the successful training of these cadets, Peterside said that though it is a social responsibility for the agency to train cadets, this set of cadets was painstakingly chosen by the agency.
“I am delighted to announce to you that the agency painstakingly chose the maritime training institutions strategically to position Nigeria in bilateral relationships to boost the acceptability of Nigerian Certificate of Competence (CoC) or tickets in other climes with long term goal of providing more jobs for Nigerian seafarers on board vessels from other nationalities. The process and effort put in by the agency to arrive at this auspicious occasion has been enormous but it is a social responsibility the agency has shouldered and we are sure that the maritime sub-sector of Nigeria will be better for it as the fruit of the reward will be in multiples.”