Shipowners Seek Long-Term Cargo Contracts To Build Nigeria’s Local Fleet

• Nigerian shipowners want major cargo owners, including Dangote Group, to provide long-term contracts that can support local vessel financing.

• They say predictable cargo volumes could help Nigerian operators secure funding from banks, development finance institutions and export credit agencies.

• Shipowners argue that retaining more freight earnings locally would create jobs, strengthen technical capacity and deepen Nigeria’s maritime industry.

September 24, () – Indigenous shipowners are calling on major cargo owners, including Dangote Group, to support the development of Nigeria’s local shipping fleet through long-term Contracts of Affreightment for petroleum products, cement, fertiliser and other bulk cargoes.

Captain Ladi Olubowale, former Nigeria Chapter President of the African Shipowners Association and Group Managing Director of Seamate Maritime Integrated Services Limited, made the call at a Nigerian Chamber of Shipping Public-Private Dialogue with industry executives in Lagos.

Olubowale said the priority should be to create commercial conditions that make vessel acquisition bankable, rather than relying solely on government intervention.

Cargo Contracts Could Unlock Vessel Financing

According to him, long-term cargo commitments would give indigenous shipowners predictable revenue streams that could be presented to banks, development finance institutions, export credit agencies and international financiers when seeking funding for vessel acquisition.

He described the model as a four-pillar structure built around cargo, contracts, finance and vessels.

Cargo owners would provide predictable volumes, long-term contracts would create bankable revenue, financiers would fund vessel acquisition, while Nigerian operators would provide the vessels and maritime services.

Olubowale said the growing volumes generated by Dangote’s refinery, cement and fertiliser businesses could provide the cargo base needed to support such a model.

He said there was no structural reason Nigerian companies could not eventually own and operate large commercial vessels, including Suezmax-class ships, provided the industry had sufficient cargo, financing, technical capacity and long-term employment commitments.

Shipowners Want Freight Earnings Retained Locally

Olubowale also raised concerns about the dominance of foreign-controlled vessels in the transportation of Nigerian crude and other bulk cargoes.

He argued that substantial freight revenue generated from cargo movements from terminals such as Forcados, Bonny and Escravos should translate into greater domestic asset ownership, employment and technical development.

The argument comes as Nigeria seeks to deepen local participation across its maritime and broader blue-economy value chain.

The shipowners said long-term commercial contracts could complement existing government initiatives such as the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund by giving operators the revenue certainty needed to access additional private financing.

Olubowale said government should primarily serve as an enabler, regulator and facilitator, while the private sector drives the commercial side of fleet development.

He added that expanding intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area would increase demand for maritime transportation and create further opportunities for Nigerian-owned shipping companies.

For indigenous operators, the central challenge is therefore not simply access to vessels but securing the cargo commitments and predictable revenues that make vessel financing commercially viable.