Nigeria, located on the coastline corridors of the Gulf of Guinea and the Bight of Benin, is blessed with a natural maritime endowment base comprising a coastline of over 850kms, an exclusive economic zone of over 200 nautical miles, a vast inland waterways resource estimated at nearly 4,000kms, capable of supporting a vibrant intra-regional trade. With Nigeria‘s total annual freight cost, estimated at between $5 billion and $6 billion annually, there is no doubt that shipping is of great importance to the Nigerian economy (NIMASA 2018).
The maritime industry includes all enterprises engaged in the business of designing, constructing, manufacturing, acquiring, operating, supplying, repairing and/or maintaining vessels, or component parts thereof: of managing and/or operating shipping lines, stevedoring and customs brokerage services, shipyards, dry docks, marine railways, marine repair shops, shipping and freight forwarding services and similar enterprises. Put succinctly, the industry embraces all the maritime related business activities which take place within the country’s maritime environment. These include offshore economic activities such as fishing, salvage, towage, underwater resources and on-shore economic activities such as port activities, maritime transport (shipping), ship construction, repairs and maintenance activities.