The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has detained several vessels, including MT HOLMES, MT FUJAIRAH ENERGY, JS GRATITUDE and MT BORA, in a sweeping enforcement crackdown on maritime regulatory violations in Lagos waters. The operation, code-named Operation Sea Guardian, signals a tougher stance against operators flouting Nigeria’s maritime laws, particularly regulations governing indigenous participation in coastal and inland shipping trade.
NIMASA said some of the detained vessels had since been released after regularising their infractions, while warning that future enforcement operations would become more frequent and defaulters would face stiff sanctions. The agency’s Director-General, Dr Dayo Mobereola, said the crackdown was part of a broader drive to enforce compliance with the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act and other applicable maritime regulations.
“We had earlier served notice of enhanced enforcement of indigenous participation in our coastal and inland trade, and this is exactly what we are doing. It is therefore in the interest of operators to ensure total compliance because defaulters will be visited with stiff sanctions in line with the law,” Mobereola said.
The targeted operation focused on vessels identified through intelligence reports, surveillance profiling and compliance indicators, enabling enforcement teams to concentrate on ships considered to pose a higher risk of regulatory violations. According to NIMASA, the exercise was designed to verify compliance with Cabotage obligations, assess the payment of applicable surcharges and levies, and ensure adherence to relevant maritime regulations.
The agency deployed assets under its Deep Blue project to track, board, inspect and verify the operational status of the vessels. The operation involved coordinated efforts by NIMASA enforcement personnel, the Nigerian Navy, the Maritime Guard Command and C4i intelligence personnel.
The intelligence-led approach also saw vessels assessed as having a high likelihood of defaulting on Cabotage obligations prioritised for further scrutiny. These vessels were added to a broader target bank established during an earlier enforcement operation. The database serves as a central repository of vessels of interest, helping the agency identify high-risk targets and deploy enforcement resources more effectively.