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4,016 vessels visited Nigeria’s exclusive zones Q1 – Report - PUNCH
BY Anozie Egole
A report by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency shows that 4,016 vessels visited the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zones in the first quarter of 2025.
The Shift Officer of the Command, Control, Communication, Computers, and Intelligence Operation Centre of NIMASA, Lawal Abdulrasak, gave the report recently during the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration oversight visit to the Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Centre in Kirikiri, Lagos.
Abdulrasak explained that 1,651 vessels called at the ports or offshore facilities within the period under review.
“Vessels entering the EEZ, 4,016, vessels entering the TW for the first time, 166, meeting operation 827, vessels calling ports of offshore oil and gas facilities, 1,651,” Abdulrasak said.
He added that about 1,723 vessels conducting ‘dark activities’ in Nigerian waters without transmitting the Automatic Identification System to evade tracking between January and April 2025 have been identified.
Abdulrasak stated that there were about 741 course diversions while actual piracy/sea robbery attempts were two within the period under review.
“Flag changes done in Nigerian waters were 31. During the mentioned period, Nigeria was in charge of over 47 per cent of the port calls in the region with 33,530 ship calls,” he said.
