{"id":5076,"date":"2025-03-31T08:59:37","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T08:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=5076"},"modified":"2025-03-31T09:29:40","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T09:29:40","slug":"nimasa-nigeria-paid-1-5bn-war-risk-insurance-premiums-in-three-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2025\/03\/31\/nimasa-nigeria-paid-1-5bn-war-risk-insurance-premiums-in-three-years\/","title":{"rendered":"NIMASA: Nigeria paid $1.5bn war risk insurance premiums in three years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says Nigeria paid over $1.5 billion in war risk insurance (WRI) premiums to international insurers in the past three years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, Osagie Edward, NIMASA\u2019s head of public relations, said the impact of WRI premiums on the economy is staggering.<\/p>\n

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War risk insurance\u00a0 covers losses and damages resulting from acts of war, including invasion, insurrection, rebellion, and hijacking, and is commonly used in the shipping and aviation industries to protect against hostile acts and specific risks in high-risk environments<\/p>\n

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NIMASA said the WRI is an additional surcharge imposed by international shipping companies on Nigeria-bound cargoes.<\/p>\n

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The statement said it comprises two key components: war risk liability, which covers people and goods aboard the vessel and is calculated based on the indemnity amount, and war risk hull, which covers the vessel itself and is determined by its value.<\/p>\n

The agency said the financial burden, initially introduced during the height of the Niger Delta militancy and piracy, has overstayed its purpose.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAlthough the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics does not have precise data on the total WRI payments made to international insurers, available figures indicate that Nigeria has paid over $1.5 billion in the past three years alone to Lloyd\u2019s of London, Protection and Indemnity (P&I) insurance, and other foreign insurance firms,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe impact on Nigeria\u2019s economy is staggering: for a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) valued at $130 million, the WRI surcharge per voyage is approximately $445,000. For new container vessels valued at $150 million, the cost rises to $525,000 per voyage.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMaersk, one of the world\u2019s largest shipping companies, has also introduced a transit disruption surcharge of up to $450 per container, while other shipping lines impose a war risk surcharge of $40\u2013$50 per 20-foot container.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Edward said NIMASA has engaged global stakeholders, including Chatham House, UN, BIMCO, and INTERCARGO, to recognise Nigeria\u2019s progress and remove the premiums.<\/p>\n

NIMASA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO SCRAP WRI PREMIUM ON NIGERIAN CARGO<\/h4>\n

The NIMASA official said the agency has launched a campaign to abolish the payment of war risk insurance premiums on Nigerian-bound cargoes,\u00a0noting that the move is expected to save \u201cthe country over $400 billion annually\u201d<\/p>\n

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Edward said Nigeria had been declared piracy-free in 2021, hence the payment must be halted.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognizing the severe economic implications of this financial burden, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) under the leadership of Dr. Dayo Mobereola has launched an aggressive campaign to eliminate war risk insurance on Nigeria-bound cargo,\u201d Edward said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NIMASA Act and the Merchant Shipping Act mandate the agency to promote shipping development, and removing the WRI premium has become a central focus of its maritime reforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe security concerns that originally justified these premiums no longer exist. Nigeria has not recorded a single piracy incident in over three years, and in 2021, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) officially removed Nigeria from its list of piracy-prone countries.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOver the past five years, NIMASA, in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy, has led an unprecedented crackdown on piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, earning global recognition from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite these achievements, international shipping companies have continued to impose war risk insurance premiums on Nigeria-bound cargoes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn 2023, the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) further validated Nigeria\u2019s progress by delisting the country from the list of high-risk maritime nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith piracy no longer a concern, why has the international shipping community continued to impose these excessive premiums?\u201d<\/p>\n

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He noted that Nigeria has made significant strides in maritime security, with the Deep Blue Project by the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy eliminating piracy in its waters for over 30 consecutive months.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, Nigeria collaborates closely with the IMO and other international bodies to combat maritime threats, further reducing its risk classification,\u201d Edward said.<\/p>\n

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He said Arsenio Dominguez, the IMO secretary-general, has publicly commended Nigeria\u2019s efforts in securing the Gulf of Guinea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says Nigeria paid over $1.5 billion in war risk insurance (WRI) premiums to international insurers in the past three years. In a statement on Friday, Osagie...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5076"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5086,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5076\/revisions\/5086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}