A maritime lawyer, Mr Emeka Akabogu, said on Friday that the maritime industry was losing more than N15 billion claims yearly to lost cargoes.

Akabogu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, urged shippers to utilise maritime lawyers to assist them in recovering their lost goods.

According to him, there was the need for importers to seek legal advice from maritime lawyers in reviewing their contracts in order to protect them as well as their cargoes.

“Maritime lawyers can also assist shippers to claim their goods many years after they have been lost, provided proper documentation was made available by the shippers.”

The maritime lawyer also appealed to maritime stakeholders to engage the services of the Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria to assist them in claiming lost goods.

“Many stakeholders do not explore the judicial process for their claims because of cost and time and so they rather forgo their claims altogether.”

He said that no claim was too small, adding that some shippers considered that some claims were not big enough for the efforts.

Akabogu said that the procedure for small claims under the rules of maritime arbitrator allowed many claims to be consolidated under one claim.

He urged shippers to follow due process to ensure speedy processing of the claim by the lawyers. (NAN)

•Photo shows Transportation Minister Chibuike Amaechi.