The Nigerian Navy Service has banned the use of 200 horse power outboard engines on the nation’s coastal waters.
The ban is part of measures by the Nigerian Navy to curtail the menace of sea piracy and of smuggling of contraband goods into the country through the waterways.
In a statement signed by Commodore Christian Odogwu Ezekobe, the Service Director of Information and made available to The Trent on Thursday, April 21, 2016, the Navy condemned the growth of crime on the nation’s waterways and the restriction on the use of 200 horsepower engine boat was a strategy to curtail the excesses of pirates on the high seas.
The statement also said the ban is also aimed at securing the nation’s waters for legitimate business, noting that pirated and other sea criminals use such high powered engines to proceed into the international waters within the Gulf of Guinea.
The Nigerian Navy, in collaboration with its maritime partners, Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta, have confiscated many boats with 200 horse power outboard engines, though some confiscated ones have been released but not without strict warnings.
It however, said investigations by the Navy have proven that criminals and people of questionable character, who are bent on breaching waterways security have employed these engine boats to perpetuate crime.
Consequently, the statement said the chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, has collaborated with state governments and corporate organizations in the coastal states to ensure that individuals and corporate organisations in possession or wish to acquire outboard engines in the 200 capacity and above are registered with the Navy.
According to the statement, the registration, which will be free, is aimed at ensuring that only authorized persons and corporate organizations are permitted to use the 200 and above class of engines on Nigerian waterways.
To this end, the Nigerian Navy called for the cooperation of governments of the coastal states to make the exercise a success, even as it said the governments of Delta and Bayelsa States have provided necessary support to the Navy and its maritime security partners.
