Nigeria located on the coastline corridors of the Gulf of Guinea and the Bight of Benin, is blessed with a natural maritime endowment base comprising a coastline of over 850kms an exclusive economic zone of over 200 nautical miles, and a vast inland waterways resource estimated at nearly 4,000kms, capable of supporting a vibrant intra-regional trade.
Nigeria is bordered to the north by Niger, to the east by Chad and Cameroon, to the south by the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean, and to the west by Benin. Nigeria is not only large in area but also Africa’s most populous country.
Nigeria is the largest ship-owning country in Africa. In terms of the world fleet, it is at number 33 on the list, with 291 vessels totalling 7.94 million deadweight tons. In terms of vessel value, Nigerian- owned vessels were in 30th place with a 0.56% share of the world fleet value.
291 vessels 
7.94 million deadweight tons 
0.56% share of the world fleet value 
The maritime industry includes all enterprises engaged in the business of designing, constructing, manufacturing, acquiring, operating, supplying, repairing and/or maintaining vessels, or component parts thereof: of managing and/or operating shipping lines, stevedoring and customs brokerage services, shipyards, dry docks, marine railways, marine repair shops, shipping and freight forwarding services and similar enterprises.
Put succinctly, the industry embraces all the maritime related business activities which take place within the country’s maritime environment. These include offshore economic activities such as fishing, salvage, towage, underwater resources and on- shore economic activities such as port activities, maritime transport (shipping), ship construction, repairs and maintenance activities. The maritime industry in Nigeria is in two parts, the Public and PrivateSector.
