The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) unveils its innovative Maritime Labour Services (MLSD) e-Platform
In anticipation of its full implementation come January 2026, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Friday, November 14, 2025 showcased its newly created Maritime Labour Services (MLSD) e-Platform to seafarers and maritime stakeholders in Lagos.
The MLSD e-Platform is a portal created in the agency’s website for online registration and documentation of seafarers, dockworkers, terminal operators, stevedoring companies, seafarers employers, manning agents, and onshore, offshore jetty operators.
Speaking at the unveiling and training workshop at Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos, NIMASA’s Deputy Director, Maritime Labour and Cabotage Services (ML&CS), Jibril Abba described the e-platform as “more than just a portal, it’s a game changer.”
“This initiative is targeted at improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria’s maritime sector by streamlining processes, reducing paperwork and eliminating delays,” he said.
“It positions NIMASA as a forward thinking regulator, leveraging technology to drive innovation and build trust within the industry by embracing digital transformation.”
Abba, who was represented by the Director, Maritime Labour Services Department, Ibrahim Umar, called on the maritime workers, investors and stakeholders present to make critical observations, so that corrections and improvements could be made on the e-platform as it continues to evolve.
He said: “On behalf of the executive management, I want you to look at the scheme with a positive mind, so that we can all collectively move this industry to the next level.
“Globally, the shipping industry is migration to ICT in core operations, documentation, registration, and certification. We cannot afford to remain behind. Time is very critical in shipping is about time.
“In order to cut cost, there’s a need for you to sit in your office, access this platform, do your documentation, and get your feedback. But we cannot do it alone. We must do it collectively, with your support, with your participation. Please be very, very free to make your critique.”
He however, reiterated that the scheme is a transition. It’s not perfect, but it’s a work in progress, adding that the platform would go live in January, 2026.
“The maritime labor e-platform is built with efficiency and transparency in mind. It ensures real time access to services, secure data management and automated compliance monitoring aligned with international best practices,” Umar said.
He further explained that the platform’s core objectives include providing a one-stop hub for all maritime labour documentation and verification, maintaining the centralized real time national database of maritime professionals and employers, generating accurate data offline policy formulation and performance evaluation, as well as enhancing regulatory compliance through automated tracking systems.
The workshop was attended by members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), led by their President-General, Francis Bunu Abi; stevedoring operators, terminal operators, jetty managers and other maritime industry stakeholders, who were trained by the developers on how to perform documentations across the various maritime labour and businesses.
The stakeholders lauded NIMASA for the initiative, affirming that it will arrest the bureaucratic bottlenecks in physical documentation process.
While praising NIMASA for the bold step to attain global best practices in maritime labour administration, the MWUN leader, Bunu called on the developers of the platform to add the various categories of seafarers for easy identification of their cadre, which could also reflect in their ID Number during registration.
