Nigerian Navy trains 29 NIMASA personnel on the use of Maritime Awareness Capability system

 Nigerian Navy trains 29 NIMASA personnel on the use of Maritime Awareness Capability system

Lagos, March 9, 2024 

The Nigerian Navy on Friday graduated 29 personnel of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on the use of Regional Maritime Awareness Capability (RMAC) system.

The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Naval Doctrine Command, Rear Adm. Habilla Zakaria said that RMAC and the Maritime Domain Awareness system was a game changer in the safety and security of Nigeria's maritime domain.

Zakaria said this during the graduation
ceremony of the staff of NIMASA's Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre which held at Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos State.

"The Regional Maritime Awareness Capability and the Maritime Domain Awareness System are very important system for Nigerian Navy operations.

"The system provides actionable intelligence for Nigerian Navy ships on patrol to be vectored to vessels of interest with almost precision.

"This will enhance the policing functions of the Nigerian Navy and by extension ensure safety of Nigeria's maritime environment," he said.

The FOC said that the establishment of RMAC ensured that one could see what was happening within the environment which was a way of tackling sea blindness within Nigeria's maritime domain.

"It is was expected that the graduates will be able to man the regional maritime rescue coordination centre of NIMASA effectively.

"Further collaboration and synergy between the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA will ensure that we broaden our horizon and ensure safety of the Nigerian maritime environment," Zakaria said.

Mr Taiwo Olaniran, Head of Maritime Safety and Safer Standard Department, NIMASA said that collaborating with the Nigerian Navy had helped NIMASA in the discharge of it's responsibility effectively.

"Such trainings has helped in the improvement of NIMASA's ability to enforce it's regulations with respect to ships, trading within our waters.

"Overall, this has made us more effective in the discharge of our responsibilities," Olaniran said.

A participant from Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, NIMASA, Mr Zakaria Maimafiya, said that the training had improved his surveillance, operations and intelligence gathering within the agency.

"It also gave me Knowles on how to investigate a vessel, try a vessel of interest and to see how one can analyse vessels without proper registration coming into Nigeria," Maimafiya said.