Isaac Anumihe

Nigeria‘s total freight cost has been put  at between $5 billion and $6 billion annually as maritime oil and gas dropped to  $8 billion.

This was reflected in the Nigerian Maritime Industry Forecast and Outlook published by  the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

According to the analysis, this was considered high given that the competitiveness of Nigerian content remains significantly low with the maritime component of the oil and gas industry is was $8 billion and is increasing, given the huge prospects in the off-shore region.

However, the report said security has remained a challenge to the industry as a higher number of incidents of piracy and armed robbery on ships in the Gulf of Guinea remained a major growing concern to the maritime industry, which is heavily affected by the incidents.

Although the report said the acts of high sea brigandage have been controlled to some extent, the economic implications of piracy still remain enormous, cutting across all other sectors to the extent that ship owners use private armed security guards on their vessels, while commuting the dangerous pirate zones in Nigeria.