The Study of Maritime Fraud and Its Effect on Nigeria Sea Borne Trade
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To examine the level of maritime fraud in the Nigerian ports.
- To examine the effect of maritime fraud on seaborne trade in Nigeria.
- To identify how the maritime fraud can be combated.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The International Maritime Bureau defined maritime fraud as: “An international trade transaction involves several parties – buyer, seller, shipowner, charterer, ship’s master or crew, insurer, banker broker or agent. Maritime fraud occurs when one of these parties succeeds, unjustly or illegally, in obtaining money or goods from another party to whom, on the face of it, he has undertaken specific trade, transport and financial obligations.” Maritime fraud is becoming more common due to a number of reasons: Criminals are increasingly turning to new methods such as computer hacking, ports are adopting new technologies that in the worst case can enable new types of fraud (such as automatise container operations) and as ship owners are under pressure to win new business, many have disregarded due diligence when dealing with new business partners. As both the greater reliance on IT and electronic trading platforms and documents increases, so does the need to stay ahead of the game played by the Fraudsters. There is a “cost” of course, to greater security, both in terms of investing in better technology and processes, but also in potential business opportunities. In order to achieve the right commercial balance it requires experience, skill as well as knowledge of what scams and schemes are out there. Given that Shipping is a global business, with many players and jurisdictions involved in any single shipment of cargo, even a simple A > B voyage, there are a myriad of potential pitfalls where the unscrupulous seek to take advantage of the unprepared. As parties are often based in multiple jurisdictions, and necessarily deal with each other at “arm’s length” and / or through Brokers and Financial Institutions, there may be little or no opportunity to make “physical checks”. Everything comes down to reliance on documents, most importantly the Bill of Lading, as a key facilitator to fast trade with a low transaction cost. That is also the inherent weakness, the trust in a key document that can be adulterated and issued in multiple originals, which is the root of many of the frauds being perpetrated today. It may be “minor” cheating or a multi-million-dollar scam, but being prepared is the key to avoiding both. This article gives you an overview of different fraud types, examples of fraud cases Skuld has been involved with useful tools, such as checklists to support your loss prevention programme against fraud.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to the study of maritime fraud and its effect on Nigeria seaborne trade
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on the study of maritime fraud and its effect on Nigeria seaborne trade. 200 staff of Apapa port, Lagos state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the study of maritime fraud and its effect on Nigeria seaborne trade. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of maritime fraud and its effect on Nigeria seaborne trade
Summary
This study was on the study of maritime fraud and its effect on Nigeria seaborne trade. Three objectives were raised which included: To examine the level of maritime fraud in the Nigerian ports, to examine the effect of maritime fraud on the seaborne trade in Nigeria, to identify how the maritime fraud can be combated. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Apapa port, Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up human resource managers, radio officers, senior staff and junior staff was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
For the safety management system in maritime transport business, the management of the maritime company should state a clear vision and mission so that the crew members can understand the expectations of management. There should be established a safety management panel to monitor the implementation of the system and a least one person should be designated ashore to provide communication between the company and crew regarding safety operations and any problems that may appear. Nevertheless, the company should finance leadership and safety management training programs and seminars.
Recommendation
In order to be competitive and responsible, maritime companies and seafarers must acknowledge and implement a management of safety at the board of the ship. “Just getting by” is an attitude uncompetitive seafarers or maritime companies may accept, but this is the attitude of amateurs with no professional standards. Some prospects of inland water transportation such as; trade and commerce, industrial growth, revenue generation, public exposure etc. Were identified if adequate attention could be paid by government and other stakeholders in the development of the area
REFERENCES
- Aragon, James R., Messer, Tuuli Anna, Master’s handbook on ship’s business, Cambridge, Cornell Maritime Press, 2001. 2.
- Cockroft, David, Putting the Seafarer First, Transport International Magazine, Issue 20, July 2005.
- IMO, The International Safety Management Code, IMO Publishing Service, International Maritime Organization, London, 2001.
- Kit-Fai Pun, Richard C.M. Yam, Winston G. Lewis, Safety management system registration in the shipping industry, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 20, Issue 6, MCB UP Ltd, p. 704-721, 2003.
- Radu Cătălina, Cătăneţ Alina, Firms’ International Competitiveness, Analele Universităţii din Oradea, Tom XVI, Vol. II, p 1146-1147, 2007. 6.
- Toma Sorin-George, Marinescu Paul, Ianole Rodica, Competitiveness in the age of globalization, The case of Romania, Anale Universitatea Oradea, Tom XVII, vol. 2, p.507-508, 2008. 7.
- Yeung, P.K., Enhancing safe operations and environmental protection by safety management systems, Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Management, City University, Hong Kong, 1997.
- Dean, M. & Sebastia-Barriel, M., 2004, ‘Why has world trade grown faster than world output?’, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Autumn, 310–320.
- Djankov, S., Freund, C. & Pham, C., 2006, ‘Trading on time’, Policy Research Working Paper 3909, Washington DC, The World Bank. Economic Report on Africa, 2004, Unlocking Africa’s trade potential: Trade facilitation to integrate Africa into the World Economy, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa
