Maritime · Nigeria
Register a ship / vessel (NIMASA)
Register a vessel on the Nigerian Ship Registry (incl. cabotage): confirm eligibility → apply to NIMASA's Director-General → pay registry fees → collect the certificate.
4
3
Who you will deal with
The steps
- Confirm eligibility and registration path
- Nigerian Maritime Administration & Safety Agency (NIMASA)
- Determine the path under the Cabotage Act 2003 (wholly Nigerian-owned, bareboat, joint venture, or foreign by waiver); the vessel must satisfy class/annual survey and insurance requirements.
- Ownership structure; class certificates; insurance
- Scoping
- Apply to the Director-General (Ship Registry)
- NIMASA — Nigerian Ship Registry Office (NSRO)
- Submit the application with supporting documents (ownership, tonnage, class, insurance, company licensing).
- Application; ownership & class docs; company licence
- Application stage
- Pay the registry fees
- NIMASA — Ship Registry
- Flag registration from ₦100,000 (15-200 tons); cabotage registration ₦50,000 (Nigerian, 1-1,000 GRT) or USD 1,000 (foreign); provisional FPSO/FSO ₦500,000.
- Fee payment
- On assessment
- Collect the certificate
- NIMASA — Ship Registry
- Collect the registration certificate from the NSRO. A straightforward new registration is typically 4-8 weeks.
- Paid fees; complete file
- ~4-8 weeks
The numbers behind the decision
Knowing the process is half of it. ONYX also tracks the operating environment you are entering — daily grid generation, official FX, state-level input prices and inflation, and sector output — each figure source-linked and dated.