NIMASA launches e-platform and 2025 stevedoring rules
Nigeria’s maritime regulator has introduced financial penalties reaching 15 million naira for stevedoring violations while launching a digital platform to automate workforce registration and biometric identification for seafarers and dockworkers. The Maritime Administration and Safety Agency system will begin full operations early next year, creating a centralized database intended to eliminate manual documentation and strengthen compliance with international labor conventions.
Ibrahim Sidi, who directs maritime labor services at the agency, explained that the electronic platform enhances regulatory oversight through integrated data management. Legal services chief Heaky Dimowo outlined enforcement measures, including fines of 100,000 naira for unregistered dock operations, one million naira for hiring unlicensed workers, and five million naira for operating without proper authorization.
The framework mandates corporate registration, public liability coverage, safety equipment provision, and risk assessment submissions from stevedoring employers. License suspensions may follow document falsification, fee defaults, or activities deemed contrary to national interests, with unresolved labor disputes falling under industrial court jurisdiction.
