Blue Economy
IMO Moves to Open Safe Maritime Corridor as 3,200 Vessels, 20,000 Seafarers Remain Trapped in Gulf Crisis
IMO Moves to Open Safe Maritime Corridor as 3,200 Vessels, 20,000 Seafarers Remain Trapped in Gulf Crisis
By Okeoghene Onoriobe, Waterways News Correspondent, Lagos
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has approved plans for a “safe maritime corridor” to evacuate thousands of commercial vessels stranded in the Gulf region as the security crisis around the Strait of Hormuz deepens, with significant implications for Nigerian and West African shipping.
The proposal, endorsed at an extraordinary session of the IMO Council in London on March 18–19, is designed as a voluntary, non-military framework to allow stranded vessels to exit high-risk areas in an organised and coordinated manner. Bahrain put forward the initiative, which member states accepted as an urgent interim measure to address one of the gravest threats to global maritime trade in recent memory.
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has been mandated to engage governments and industry stakeholders to bring the plan into operation, underscoring the urgency with which the international maritime community is treating the situation.
Scale of the Crisis
The human and commercial stakes are considerable. IMO figures put the number of vessels currently trapped in the Gulf at approximately 3,200, carrying around 20,000 seafarers. Crews face heightened security risks, mounting operational disruptions and increasing physical fatigue as tensions in the region show no sign of abating.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows — has already fallen sharply. Persistent attacks involving missiles, drones and sea mines have driven up war-risk insurance premiums to prohibitive levels and deterred vessel operators from transiting the route.
Western Powers Issue Joint Condemnation
Diplomatic pressure on Iran is intensifying. In a joint statement released on March 19, leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan condemned ongoing attacks on commercial shipping and energy infrastructure, attributing the disruption directly to Iran and describing the situation as a de facto closure of the strait.
The six nations called on Iran to halt hostile activities — including mine-laying and missile and drone strikes — and reaffirmed the principle of freedom of navigation under international law. They indicated readiness to support efforts to restore safe passage but stopped short of committing to naval escorts or specific security deployments.
Military Option Stalls
Proposals for a military-backed escort system have run into resistance. Key allies of the United States — including Germany, Spain and Italy — have declined to deploy naval forces, citing the absence of a mandate from the United Nations, the European Union or NATO, as well as inadequate prior consultation on the proposal.
The reluctance of Western governments to pursue a military solution has reinforced the IMO’s preference for a civilian-led, non-militarized approach. The proposed corridor would provide a structured exit pathway for trapped vessels without dependence on armed escorts.
Comparison to Black Sea Grain Initiative
Analysts have drawn parallels between the proposed corridor and the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which established a protected shipping route during the Ukraine conflict. However, a key distinction exists: that arrangement rested on guarantees provided by the United Nations and Turkey, whereas the IMO is expected to assume a more direct coordinating role in the Hormuz framework.
Whether the organisation can operationalise such a mechanism within an active conflict zone remains a live question, and several IMO member states have already raised concerns about the practical feasibility of the plan.
Nigeria Watch
The Hormuz corridor proposal arrives at a critical juncture for Nigerian maritime interests.
Nigeria’s economy is tied to global oil markets, and any sustained disruption to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz feeds directly into crude price volatility, freight rate increases and supply chain uncertainty — all of which affect the cost of imports arriving at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports.
The crisis also has a human dimension for Nigeria. The country has an active seafarer community with Nigerian nationals serving aboard vessels operating in Gulf waters. The welfare of approximately 20,000 seafarers currently stranded in the region — some of whom may be Nigerian — is a matter of direct concern for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN).
Operationally, Nigerian shipping stakeholders will be watching the fate of the IMO corridor proposal closely. With major carriers already activating emergency multimodal rerouting — as seen with CMA CGM’s recent announcement of alternative corridors via the Red Sea and overland routes — Nigerian importers and exporters could face extended transit times and revised freight schedules into the second quarter of 2026.
The IMO’s credibility in crisis management is also under scrutiny. If the corridor succeeds, it would represent a landmark use of civilian multilateral coordination to manage a live maritime emergency — a model with potential implications for security architecture in the Gulf of Guinea, where Nigeria has long advocated for non-militarized regional maritime cooperation.
Oyetola Woos Turkish Investors for Fisheries Sector, Vows to Protect Artisanal Fishers
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, has thrown Nigeria’s fisheries sector open to Turkish investment, insisting that any fresh capital coming into the industry must strengthen and not sideline the millions of Nigerians who depend on artisanal fishing for a living.
Oyetola made the pledge while receiving a delegation from Turkish fisheries and aquaculture firm CRD Impex, led by the company’s General Manager for Fisheries, Cem Tarhan, at his Abuja office. He told the investors the Federal Government was ready to create an investment-friendly climate for credible local and foreign players willing to bring capital, technology and modern value-chain solutions to the sector, on condition that such investment remains inclusive.
“We welcome investors who can bring capital, technology, expertise and modern value-chain solutions to the sector. However, investment must be inclusive and sustainable. It must complement and empower our artisanal fish producers, not undermine their livelihoods,” the Minister said
He listed inadequate infrastructure, poor access to modern fishing technology, weak cold-chain systems, limited processing and storage capacity, and gaps in market access as the major constraints holding back the sector, framing each as an opening for targeted investment rather than a dead end.
The Turkish team, which included CRD Impex founder Hanefi Cardak and Tetra Underwater Services founder Ersun Buyukgoze, toured key fisheries and aquaculture points around the country to size up the terrain first-hand. Stops included the Kirikiri Lighter Terminal in Lagos, the Ozumba Mbadiwe Fish Market in Lekki, and the Esuk Nsidung Beach Market, a major waterfront seafood hub in Calabar, Cross River State.
The Ministry described the visit as part of a broader push to attract serious investment into Nigeria’s blue economy while keeping the welfare of artisanal fishers central to that growth.
Nigeria Watch
The Turkish courtesy call lands squarely in the pattern this desk has tracked all year: big-ticket investment pledges for Nigeria’s waterways, paired with familiar assurances that the small operator won’t be crowded out. The test, as always, is what happens after the photo-op.
Nigeria’s artisanal fishing communities occupy the same economic space as the informal boat operators represented by WABOTAN and ATBOWATON, river- and creek-dependent Nigerians whose livelihoods rise or fall on decisions made far from the waterfront. The infrastructure gaps Oyetola cited which include, weak cold-chain systems, poor storage and limited market access, all mirror the exact complaints this desk has documented from inland waterway operators for years but modernisation announced from Abuja rarely reache the jetties.
Turkish capital chasing Nigerian fisheries and aquaculture is a genuinely new thread, distinct from the Strait of Hormuz shipping story or the CVFF disbursement saga this desk has followed closely. But the underlying question is the same one that has defined Oyetola’s tenure at the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy: will “inclusive investment” translate into contracts, cooperative partnerships and cold-chain infrastructure that artisanal operators can actually use or will it, like so many blue-economy pledges before it, stall at the courtesy-visit stage?
Waterways News will be watching for the first concrete CRD Impex commitment — site, timeline, or local partnership — as the marker of whether this one is different.
NPERA, NPA Open Technical Talks on Handover of Inland Dry Port Functions
By Ighoyota Onaibre | Waterways News
The Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have begun formal engagement on transferring inland dry port oversight to NPERA, marking the start of what both agencies describe as a critical phase in operationalising Nigeria’s new port regulatory framework.
At a management-level meeting between the two agencies, officials focused on the technical groundwork for the handover, chiefly how to draw clear lines of responsibility and avoid duplication among the government bodies with a stake in inland dry port administration.
NPERA’s Director-General/CEO, Dr Akutah Pius, framed the transition as flowing directly from the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, whom he credited with steering the process toward the sector’s broader development. Akutah was emphatic that NPERA could not carry out the transfer alone, and said the buy-in of every relevant stakeholder agency would be needed to see it through.
He indicated that the Ministry would stay central to coordinating the process even as specific mandates move to the agencies best placed to execute them. Akutah also pointed to the Minister’s earlier interventions during the NPERA Bill’s passage through the National Assembly, which he said had defused inter-agency friction and set the stage for the cooperation now underway.
Describing the purpose of the meeting, Akutah said it was meant to formally kick off the transfer of inland dry port responsibilities to NPERA in fulfilment of its statutory role as economic regulator of the ports sector. He singled out Section 51 of the NPERA Act as a provision that now needs to be put into practical effect to keep the transition orderly and ensure stakeholder roles are properly aligned.
To manage the process going forward, the NPERA boss proposed setting up a joint committee drawing in NPERA, NPA, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. He argued that inland dry ports matter well beyond the coastline. They extend maritime sector benefits into Nigeria’s hinterland and reinforce the country’s trade and logistics chain.
Responding on behalf of NPA, Managing Director Dr Abubakar Dantsoho welcomed the move and pledged his agency’s full operational and technical backing throughout the transition. He said the process had started on the right footing, and that NPA would furnish updated data on the current state of inland dry ports to inform further discussions, expressing confidence that continued engagement would help the agencies meet their shared objectives.
NPA’s Executive Director, Engr. Lekan Badmus, also commended NPERA for setting the collaboration in motion, calling the meeting a solid first step toward a smooth integration. He noted the two agencies have now moved into the technical phase of the exercise, with close attention being paid to eliminating overlapping functions.
Closing the meeting, Akutah said the proposed joint committee would reconvene with the Minister to seek further guidance and agree on next steps to keep the transition on track.
Nigeria Watch
This meeting is the first visible test of whether the NPERA Act’s promise of a rationalised port regulatory architecture can survive contact with Nigeria’s crowded agency landscape. Section 51’s transfer of inland dry port functions to NPERA looks straightforward on paper; in practice, it touches NPA’s traditional port administration turf, NIWA’s inland waterways mandate, and the Ministry’s coordinating role all at once, precisely the kind of overlapping jurisdiction that has bedevilled reform efforts elsewhere in the sector, most visibly in the long-running NIWA-LASWA tussle that only the Supreme Court could settle.
The proposed joint committee of NPERA, NPA, NIWA, and the Ministry, is a sensible mechanism, but Waterways News readers who have followed the CVFF disbursement saga know that Nigerian maritime governance has no shortage of well-designed committees whose outputs never quite reach implementation. What will matter is whether Akutah’s “technical phase” produces a binding timeline, not another round of goodwill statements.
For inland dry port operators and the hinterland trade corridors that depend on them, the stakes are practical: unclear jurisdiction between NPA and NPERA has historically meant slower cargo evacuation, duplicated levies, and uncertainty for freight forwarders planning routes away from the congested Lagos ports. If this transition is handled well, it strengthens the case for dry ports as genuine pressure valves for Apapa and Tin Can. If it stalls in inter-agency turf negotiation, it becomes one more entry in the gap between policy pronouncement and delivery that this desk continues to track.
Worth watching: whether Minister Oyetola’s office sets an explicit deadline when the committee reconvenes, and whether NIWA, whose inland waterways mandate intersects with dry port hinterland connectivity, gets more than a seat at the table.
Two More Tankers Struck in Strait of Hormuz as Attack Count Hits Five in a Week
By Okeoghene Onoriobe | Waterways News
Two more tankers have been hit while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, leaving two seafarers with minor injuries and pushing the number of reported attacks or security incidents against commercial vessels in the waterway to at least five since 16 September.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said an inbound tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile on Monday. Two crew members sustained minor injuries, but the vessel stayed under its own power and continued to its next port, with no environmental impact reported.
Hours later, UKMTO issued a second alert after an outbound LPG tanker reported being struck by debris from unknown projectiles. All crew were reported safe and the vessel also continued its voyage. Authorities are investigating both incidents, and UKMTO has not attributed either attack to a specific actor.
The two strikes build on a Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) advisory covering three earlier attacks between 16 and 18 September, one of which saw a tanker’s hull breached by a projectile, sparking a fire. JMIC continues to rate the threat level in the strait as “severe,” citing a high likelihood of deliberate hostile action and pointing to a pattern of harassment by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — drone overflights, surveillance of merchant vessels and VHF hailing, alongside the direct attacks.
Traffic through the chokepoint remains sharply depressed. Only 17 commodity vessels were visibly transiting over the weekend, down from 37 the week before and against a pre-war daily average of roughly 125. That figure excludes vessels sailing with their AIS transponders switched off, and JMIC notes a persistent gap between visible and actual traffic.
Nigeria Watch
For Nigerian maritime stakeholders, the Hormuz crisis is no longer a distant Gulf story. It is a cost line. Every fresh escalation feeds directly into the war-risk insurance premiums and freight rates that Nigerian importers, refiners and shipping agents ultimately absorb, since global tanker and container capacity pulled off the Hormuz route tightens supply elsewhere and pushes rates up across long-haul trades, including those serving West African ports.
The renewed attacks also sharpen the stakes around Nigeria’s push for a stronger voice at the IMO Council table and its broader blue-economy diplomacy under Minister Adegboyega Oyetola. A sustained Gulf disruption is exactly the kind of systemic shock that tests whether Nigeria’s seat translates into influence over how global shipping risk, insurance and rerouting decisions are made, rather than Nigeria simply absorbing the downstream cost.
Locally, the episode is a reminder of the layered nature of “maritime security” as a policy word: the Deep Blue Project and Gulf of Guinea security architecture address piracy and armed robbery close to home, but Nigeria’s ports and shippers remain exposed to security failures thousands of kilometres away in the Gulf.
Waterways News will continue tracking how the Hormuz situation feeds into freight cost pressure at Nigerian ports and NIMASA’s public messaging on the issue.
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