Towards Maintaining Peacefulness of the Sea: Legal Regime Governing Maritime Safety and Security in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the development of international and municipal laws on maritime safety and security and identified the challenges undermining the efficiency of the provisions at combating security threats within the Nigerian maritime space. The study relied on primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources included the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation 1988, the Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS) Convention 1974, municipal legislations and Judicial decisions. While the secondary sources included books, journal articles, conference proceedings and the internet. It was found that there is an array of international laws addressing maritime safety and security. It was further found that the effectiveness of these international maritime laws in Nigeria is undermined by inadequate implementation traceable to socio-legal, institutional and political issues in the country. The study recommends adoption of functional legal, institutional and policy measures to address the various implementation challenges, address maritime safety and security threats in the Nigerian maritime domain and aid the maximization of the nation’s maritime resources to facilitate development.