NIMASA Detains Vessels in Cabotage Crackdown, Warns Defaulters of Stiffer Sanctions

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has detained several vessels for alleged non-compliance with cabotage regulations following a targeted enforcement operation in Nigerian waters.

In a statement on Wednesday, the agency’s Deputy Director and Head of Public Relations, Osagie Edward, said the operation, code-named Operation Sea Guardian, focused on vessels identified through intelligence and surveillance profiling.

He said the operation “led to the arrest and detention of several vessels for non-compliance, including MT HOLMES, MT FUJAIRAH ENERGY, JS GRATITUDE and MT BORA within the Lagos maritime domain.”

“Some of the vessels which have regularised their infractions have since been released,” Edward said.

He explained that Operation Sea Guardian was a follow-up enforcement initiative aimed at strengthening regulatory compliance, verifying cabotage obligations, assessing surcharge and levy compliance, and ensuring adherence to applicable maritime regulations.

According to him, the operation deployed Deep Blue assets to track, board and inspect vessels identified through intelligence reports and compliance indicators.

It also involved collaboration among NIMASA enforcement personnel, the Nigerian Navy, the Maritime Guard Command and C4i intelligence personnel.

Edward said the intelligence-driven process helped identify vessels considered likely to have defaulted on cabotage obligations for further scrutiny.

“These vessels were subsequently incorporated into a broader target bank that had been established during the first enforcement operation,” he added.

He said the updated target bank provided a consolidated repository of vessels of interest and served as the primary reference for planning enforcement activities, allowing operational resources to be focused on high-risk targets.

The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola, said such operations would become more frequent, warning that operators found to be in default would face sanctions in accordance with the law.

“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.

NIMASA had, on August 26, 2026, issued a marine notice pursuant to its statutory mandate to promote indigenous capacity in international and coastal shipping.

The notice restated the conditions for engaging in cabotage trade and warned that “any vessel, company, operator, charterer or other stakeholder found to be in breach of the Cabotage Act or any other applicable Cabotage requirement shall be subject to appropriate enforcement action by the Agency in accordance with the law, without further recourse to violators.”