WRI Removal: Denmark declines to help Nigeria

Nigeria’s desire of having the War Risk Insurance (WRI) premiums removed on the vessels coming to her shore may not be realized sooner than expected as Denmark, a major shipping nation in Europe and which Nigeria counts on, has declined to help the country in the struggle.

Kristin Skov- Spilling, the Head of a Danish delegation to Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Thursday, March 6, 2025, declined the support as requested by the Director General of NIMASA as she declared that “there is little or nothing the government of Denmark could do on the war risk insurance premium because the insurance companies are private entities.”

Kristin Skov- Spilling, who is the Special Technical Director of Evaluation, Leaning and Quality in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was at the NIMASA’s headquarters at Victoria Island, Lagos, to deepen its capacity training initiative with the agency.

The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Dayo Mobereola, who had earlier requested the Danish Government and international community to intervene for the removal of the WRI, expressed disappointment by the envoy’s remark, saying such distinction made by Kristin Skov- Spilling does not make sense.

Mobereola believes that the commitment and huge investments made by Nigeria to maritime security and the relative peace in the Gulf of Guinea are enough to get the support of the international community in persuading the shipping cartel to remove the WRI.

The surcharge was instituted by the international shipping companies during the hay days of heightened piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and militancy in the Niger Delta region of the country.

Represented by Executive Director, Finance and Administration of the agency, Chudi Offodile, Mobereola said ”When sanctions come from Europe, America or the international community, they come from their governments.

”But when we seek some response from them considering investment we had made and concrete achievements recorded, they now say insurance companies are private companies.

”That distinction doesn’t make sense. It is clear to the world that we have done our bit and the world must respond,” Mobereola  insisted.

According to him, Nigeria has invested a huge resources into the maritime security in the country and the region through its Deep Blue Project that has decapitated piracy and armed robbery in the region.

He declared that the international shipping community owes the country a duty by reciprocating its gesture towards the commitment to security in the region by removing the war risk insurance surcharge.

”Given the commitment of NIMASA and the Federal government to maritime security that ensured almost zero incidents of piracy and armed robbery within the Gulf of Guinea in the last four to five years, there is absolutely no reason for the current war risk insurance premium on Nigeria- bound cargo.

”We expect that the surcharge ought to have gone. With the cooperation we seek with the Danish government, we expect that the war risk insurance premium and freight costs and other related issues will have to be addressed by the international community” Mobereola declared.