The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • ‘Foreigners dominate oil trade’

    Only 60 of the 600 vessels in the upstream oil sector  are owned by indigenous operators, the General Secretary of the Indigenous Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA), Captain Niyi Labinjo, has said.
    He said a vessel on offshore operations makes about $5,000 daily, which is the least amount made by a foreign vessel doing business in Nigeria, he added.

    He said because of the lack of indigenous ships, the country losses about N2 trillion yearly.

    “We have plenty of hydrocarbons. As at today, it is 37 billion barrels, but our government is working towards making it 40 billion barrels. That is our proven reserves. We are said to be the 10th world’s producer of oil. The world uses 84 million barrels per day of oil and Nigeria produces 2.5 million barrels every day. For gas, we have 24 trillion reserves.

    “We have the best shrimps in the world, called tiger shrimps. That is why you have many Indian fishing companies in Nigeria. All the tiger shrimps are exported. We import into Nigeria every five million metric tonnes of cargo and 100 million metric tonnes of goods. We also import 65 million litres of petroleum products every year.”
    Labinjo urged the government to assist his members to participate in the oil business.

    “In the oil and gas industry, Nigeria has about 500 oil wells. For each well, there is a rig, which is supported by a minimum of five ships, and they are called oil support vessels.”
    He said a foreign ship earns $5,000 while others earn N150,000 per day.

  • Customs redeploys 1,000 officers to boost PAAR

    Customs redeploys 1,000 officers to boost PAAR

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has redeployed over 1,000 officers to facilitate the processing of Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) at the ports and other designated clearing outlets.

    The exercise is to ensure that only officers with the requisite knowledge of classification and valuation man PAARs desk, it was learnt.

    Sources said the Customs Comptroller-General, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, ordered the redeployment to end the initial challenges.

    Senior officers are working with young officers knowledgeable in computers to produce between 1,800 and 1,900 PAARs daily.

    At the Apapa Customs Command, which is said to be the fulcrum of PAAR’s implementation, the Customs is making progress in the generation and transmission of the document.

    According to findings, the Command generated and transmitted 19,198 PAARs between last December and last month. About 6,632 were utilised, leaving a balance of 12,566.

    A breakdown of the figures indicated that 781 PAAR were transmitted in December, 372 were utilised and 409 unutilised. In February, the Command recorded 5,365 PAARs; 1,792 were utilised and 3,573 were unutilised.Of the 9,722 PAAR generated and transmitted last month, only 3,338 were used, 6,384 were not.

    The Area Comptroller, Apapa Command, Charles Edike, said the Customs began the transmission of 250 PAARs daily in December. He said Abdullahi complained that the figure was too small and ordered that “we should increase to two shifts, morning and evening. With two shifts, we transmitted 500 per day. He was still not satisfied with this, despite the backlog of 99,000 RAR left behind by the service providers”.

    Edike also said the opposition against the PAAR regime by a section of stakeholders was a smear campaign to discredit the process.

    ‘’We are aware that there is a lot of smear campaign to discredit the PAAR initiative. Not everybody likes good things, some people thrive on confusion.

    ‘’If Customs is not ready, how would this quantum of PAAR be generated? How many Form’ M’ are processed in a day? How many declarations are processed in a day? People are being mischievous in their assessment of the process and their view is myopic. Even the three service providers combined could not generate this much RAR in a month throughout the eight years they operated,” he argued.

    He noted that importers waited until their cargoes arrived before they began to process their Form ‘’M’’ and they are laying the blame on PAAR, saying it is a pre-arrival method. But importers and their clearing agents, are doing post-arrival, he said.

    “For RAR, it is fine, but for PAAR, that is not the concept,’’he said.

    He noted that an importer is not supposed to start importation until his Form ‘’M’’ is approved.

    ‘’It is after the bank has forwarded the Form ‘’M’’ to the Customs’ portal that you place order. But some people want to circumvent the process and when they run into a hitch, they blame PAAR.’’

    He said: ‘’The purpose of this new clearing procedure is to engender change in our attitude. It is to infuse efficiency into out clearing procedure, to change from being analogue to electronic for speed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.”

    The National President, National Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, confirmed that Customs has improved on the issuance of PAAR, urging the Comptroller-General not to relent in his resolve to forge ahead.

    “The truth is that Customs has improved tremendously on its operation. We are happy with the level they are issuing PAAR, but the C-G must not relent in his effort. If he goes to sleep, his work will also go to sleep,” Shittu said.

    An importer, Mr Solomon Adeseye, urged Dikko to involve more of his officers in PAAR operation so that the initial problem associated with the scheme would not repeat itself.

  • Group pushes for stevedoring bill

    The National Association of Stevedoring Companies is pushing for a bill to capture stevedoring.

    Its President, Bolaji Sunmola, said the body was working on the Nigerian Ports and Harbours Bill to ensure that stevedoring operations are captured.

    Sunmola, who spoke after the inauguration of the new executives of the stevedores in Lagos, said the body was partnering First City Merchant Bank (FCMB) to develop the industry.

    He said: “We have considered the need for a comprehensive census of dockworkers, because we believe it is not just for our own need only but also to put a figure to the number of dock employers we have. This project is so dear to us and we are working in conjunction with NIMASA and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria.

    “We believe this census will also determine, to a great extent, under capacity in the industry,” he said.

    He said FCMB had shown interest in the partnership, to leverage on it as a medium of job creation and to promote cargo handling and enhance stevedore industry.

    The Zonal Head of Stevedores on Victoria Island, Lagos, Mrs. Opeyemi Ojesina, said the bank would give financial assistance and play advisory role in its logistical engagement. She added that the move would not only benefit the bank but the economy.

    “As an institution, we have over 30 years of experience, and we would be obliged to partner with any group that will benefit the country,” she said.

  • Shippers’ Council to promote business at ports

    The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is taking steps to make the ports attractive for business, its Executive Secretary, Alhaji Hassan Bello, has said.

    The council would be independent in the discharge of its duties a as ports economic regulator, he said.

    Bello, who spoke after a sensitisation programme organised by the council on its new role as economic regulator of the ports, said it would not take sides with any of the interested parties, including importers, exporters and agents.

    “We will synergise with all operators with a view to creating a balance and an enabling environment for the interest of the various stakeholders in the maritime sector.

    “This assignment is a re-affirmation of what we have been doing, trying to see that there is balance in the industry. We have always been an umpire trying to see that the needed balance, necessary for efficiency is maintained. We are going to work with everybody that matters in the sector,” he added.

    He said the council would require the cooperation of stakeholders to to fulfill its new mandate.

    “We need the partnership of stakeholders, their understanding and trust to move the industry forward,” he added.

  • Customs gets June ultimatum on destination inspection

    Customs gets June ultimatum on destination inspection

    • 9,000 uncleared PAAR documents in banks

    • ‘It’s a ploy to bring back ex-service providers’

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has up till June to get it right with the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) under which goods are expected to be cleared in six hours, The Nation has learnt.

    NCS was given the ultimatum because the Federal Government is worried by what it perceives as the slow pace of the process, sources said.

    The government, a source said, is worried that there are over 9,000 PAAR documents belonging to importers at many commercial banks in Lagos yet to be delivered by the Customs.

    PAAR encompasses information about a cargo, its country of origin and the value of goods imported.

    At a town hall meeting to kick-off the scheme last year, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, assured importers that they would clear their consignments in less than six hours. He said the first PAAR with reference number CN20130017589/001 was issued by Customs within 58 minutes.

    But the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, a source said, are not happy that payment of import duty has become a major challenge to many importers under the scheme.

    This has fueled speculations that the government may ask the former service providers to return if the Customs fails to use PAAR, which is also known as Destination Inspection (DI), to facilitate trade at the ports in the next three months.

    In anticipation of the government’s move, the Customs uploaded a new platform last week to resolve the PAAR crisis.

    Our souce said part of the PAAR challenge was caused by the Customs because of what was described as “inconsistency” in its billing system. Some importers reportedly complained to Dr Okonjo-Iweala that they were initially asked to pay N1million for their cargoes, only for the Customs to raise it to N20 million.

    This, it was learnt, has made the finance ministry to have a rethink on the Customs’ ability to issue PAAR within an hour.

    The source said many of the yet-to-be-cleared cargoes at the ports do not have PAARs with which the banks could work.

    The government, the source said, is also aware that over 7,000 containers imported between December and February this year, are at some terminals in Lagos, awaiting the issuing of PAAR.

    The government is concerned that the volume of uncleared containers may rise if the Customs fails to come out with a plan on how best to manage the crisis.

    But, the Customs is denying responsibility for the crisis, accusing those clamouring for the service providers’ return as having something to hide.

    Customs National Publicity Officer Mr Wale Adeniyi wondered why the importers who have not utilised thousands of PAARs issued to them between January and March were complaining of not having the document.

    He said: “Customs is also not happy that we have several thousands of PAARs that we have issued and have not been utilised. Who are the owners of these PAARs? Some of them were issued in January, some in February and they have not been utilised. May be the owners are part of those calling for the extension of the provisional-release of their cargoes, or those calling for the reinstatement of the service providers.”

    He said the job of the service providers, which lasted for eight years was to build, operate and transfer to the Customs.

    “If these people did it for eight years and we have just done it for four months and they are complaining, how are we sure of what will happen in six months, or more? he asked.

    Adeniyi said the Customs record showed that there is an improvement in the number of PAARs issued daily.

    “Statistics doesn’t lie. When we started, we were doing in the region of 200 and 500 per day. Now, we have done over 1,700 and on March 26, we did 1,900. Our statistics showed that there is an increase in the number of PAARs we are generating,” he said.

    The problem the Customs is facing, Adeniyi said, is with the initial platform it was using. He said it had a problem with the platform because it was slow to transmit finished PAARs. But the platform, according to him, has since been upgraded and things are now moving faster. The banks, he said, were now responsible for data capturing because the importers pay for the service, adding that the banks have employed more people to hasten the process.

    On errors in the amount to be paid by importers, he said the Customs has established an error resolution centre in Abuja to resolve the problem.

    “They are not unusual things. When they happen, they are resolved,” he said.

    On the huge number of uncleared containers at the ports, Adeniyi said the Customs, in a few days, would take an inventory of containers with PAAR to ascertain their contents, warning that if the containers contain prohibited items, the importers would pay for it.

    But a clearing agent, Mr Segun Ogunsanu, said they were groaning under demurrages that had accrued on their consignments because of the failure of Customs to generate PAAR on time.

    Director-General of Nigerian Chambers of Shipping (NCS) Mrs Ify Akerele urged the Customs to abolish PAAR so that there would be smooth clearance of cargoes at the ports.

    “I am only being realistic about the situation on ground, because PAAR cannot work except you put the experts on ground to handle it,” she said.

    The President, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), Dr. Frank Ukoh, said many of the documents needed for issuing PAAR were not generated, adding that new ones are coming in and piling up, leading to congestion at the ports.

    The President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said his association was aware of the problems created by PAAR. He said he knew that the Customs had come up with a new platform to tackle the issue.

    “I know the Comptroller-General of Customs and the Ministry of Finance are working assiduously to clear all the backlog of PAARs. Customs has introduced a new platform to address the challenges but how effective the new platform would be is what I don’t know,” Shittu said.

  • ‘Lagos terminal is West Africa’s largest’

    The APM Terminals Apapa, Lagos is the largest and best equipped terminal in West Africa its Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Neil Fletcher, has said.

    He told The Nation that the terminal is a multi-use facility which can accommodate 10 shipping lines at a time.

    He said the terminal was fully ISPS compliant and the first container terminal to introduce RTGs (Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes) operations in the country.

    Fletcher said when APM Terminals took over operation of the Apapa container terminal in 2006, vessel waiting time was up to 30 days while the container yard was waterlogged and filled with debris.

    He said eight years into the port concession, the condition of the terminal has improved with average berth productivity elevated to 30 moves per hour; average crane productivity at 15 moves per hour and monthly average throughput at 50,000 TEUs.

    He said the throughput capacity of the terminal was one million TEUs while average vessel waiting time is less than one day.

  • Operators allege diversion of 150 shiploads of rice

    The Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has raised the alarm over the continuous diversion of shiploads of rice to the ports of neighbouring countries.

    Its Chairman, Princess Vicky Haastrup, said in Lagos that no fewer than 150 shiploads of rice had been diverted to the ports in Benin Republic, Cameroon, Accra and Togo in the first quarter of the year.

    She said Nigeria lost about 600,000 metric tonnes of rice between January and March 2014 to the neighbouring ports due to the 110 per cent policy slammed on the commodity by the Federal Government early last year.

    “This is becoming rather unfortunate. Our economy is bleeding seriously because of this policy. The loss to other countries, as a result of the high tariff on rice was over N300 billion last year while in the first quarter of this year alone, both the government and private operators have lost at least N80 billion.

    “Even the Federal Government through the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, admitted the shortcoming of this policy. The truth is that the policy has done more harm than good to our economy and government should waste no further time before reversing it,” Princess Haastrup stated.

    According to her, revenues affected by the 110 per cent rice policy include those of the Nigeria Customs Service, terminal operators, dock workers and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    She disagreed with those who blame Customs for the high rate of smuggling of rice into Nigeria.

    “It is totally wrong to blame Customs. Customs is doing its very best under the circumstance to check the smuggling of rice into the country and that can be seen from the numerous seizures they make every day.

    “The fact of the matter is that the policy cannot work. Even if you place heavily armed Customs officers in every corner of our borders, it won’t stop smuggling. It is a fact that local production cannot match local demand which creates a recipe for smuggling. There is a lot of pressure on Customs because the quantity of rice manufactured locally can only satisfy 30 per cent of local demand. It is easy to point accusing fingers but I believe Customs officers are giving their best.

    “And don’t forget that our neighbouring countries are profiting from the policy by dropping their own tariffs on rice and because they are benefitting, they give tacit support to these smugglers,” the STOAN Chairman said.

    She said the 110 per cent policy will not encourage local production but rather stifle it due to the high rate of smuggling.

  • Customs, importers trade words over seized goods

    Customs, importers trade words over seized goods

    • ‘Cargoes were wrongly released at ports’
    • It’s a case of extortion, agents allege

    Importers and truck drivers have accused some Customs men of harassing them on the streets after the clearance of their goods at the ports.

    They alleged that men of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ always intercepted their goods on Lagos roads after being released under the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), at the ports.

    Some of the officers, the importers claimed, demand between N200,000 and N500,000 and sometimes more, as bribes to get the goods released.

    But, FOU’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr Uche Ejesieme described the allegations as baseless and fabricated.

    The action of the FOU officers, the importers said, could be likened to “second clearing” after they had been cleared by other senior Customs officers.

    They appealed to the Federal Government, particularly the Ministry of Finance and the Customs leadership, to call the FOU officers to order.

    Around 3.00pm last Friday, some of the officers were seen a few metres from the Apapa Port, stopping truck drivers over the goods they are conveying.

    The exercise led to heavy traffic, which left motorists complaining.

    They urged the Comptroller-General of Customs, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, to restrain his men.

    The Nation learnt that in 2011, Dikko ordered out of the road operatives of the anti-smuggling arm who men roadblocks impound containers already cleared.

    The directive followed complaints and petitions over the operatives excesses.

    A commuter, Mr James Okwudili, said the FOU officers have no right to seize containers that are less than five kilometres away from the ports.

    “These are officers the nation expects to go into the bush and creek to combat smuggling harassing innocent and law-abiding importers on the road. If there is a problem with what the truck driver took from the port to the main road, who do we blame? Who is responsible for the release of cargo from the port? Is it not Customs? Is it because of their own inefficiency that the rest of us would not be allowed to carry on with our businesses? he queried.

    “Customs said the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) was introduced to make cargo clearance easy from the port, but what we are seeing on this road daily is not what we expected from the scheme. We had hoped that since Customs has taken over all aspects of cargo clearance, the issues of falsified documents, under declaration, over invoicing and other import related problems, would be resolved when the goods are still inside the ports,” Okwudili added.

    A security officer, who was on the scene, said they had in the past advised the Customs officers to map out strategies to ensure that only certified goods are allowed to leave the ports, wondering why a Customs officer would release a cargo from the port for another to intercept it on the main road.

    “Who released the goods? Why must a Customs officer release the cargo from the port in broad day light and another officer would be saying the owner of the goods, or the truck driver has questions to answer? Why? It shows that the level of trust among the Customs officers has degenerated and there is nobody in control,” the security officer said.

    A car dealer, Mr Sunday Adegoroye, said the officers were violating the Comptroller-General’s ban on hinterland patrol because of what they intend to gain from truck drivers.

    He said if the importer disobeys any import law, he should have been prevented by the mechanism put in place by the Customs from taking the goods out of the port.

    He said any officer who releases questionable goods should be disciplined to serve as deterrent to others.

    “Those responsible for the intercepted goods must also be punished because it shows that some people somewhere are not doing what they are supposed to do, and that is why we have this problem on the road.

    Ejesieme said the unit’s operation was more of intelligence, adding that its operatives impound suspicious containers that were wrongly released from the ports.

    FOU officers, he said, have the power to intercept any container that is against the Federal Government’s fiscal policy.

    “If they were given information that there was a manipulation in the document presented for the release of the cargo from the port, our officers would go there and intercept the item and the release officer would be asked to report to FOU and subsequently to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja.

    “FOU is an enforcement unit of the Nigeria Customs Service and our job it to complement the efforts of every Customs command in the zone.”

    The motive, he said, was to ensure that no importer or clearing agent succeeded in shortchanging the government.

    He appealed to Nigerians to give the unit information that could lead to the arrest of fraudulent importers.

  • Make dry port operational, govt told

    The Oyo State Shippers Association (OYSSA) has urged the Federal Government to make the dry port at Erunmu, near Ibadan, and the Trans-National Border Market (TBM) at Saki operational.

    Its President, Dr Ayo Omotosho, said such a move would enhance economic activities in those areas.

    He praised the government for providing the enabling environment for the export of agricultural products and made-in-Nigeria goods.

    Omotosho said he was happy that the government provided loans for importers, industrialists and farmers in the state, saying that the loans have boosted the purchase of farming equipment, adding that the Oyo State Government has provided the association with an administrative office and a vehicle for the TBM project.

    “The OYSSA’s visit to Oyo State Government made us to understand that the state government will reconstitute and inaugurate the implementation committee on the dry port as well as the TBM project.

    “The committee, which will include the Organised Private Sector (OPS) as well as government’s officials, is to fast track the development of the dry port and the market,” he said.

    The Executive Secretary of the Shippers’ Council, Mr Hassan Bello said there are 27 shippers’ associations in the country, including OYSSA.

    “It is pertinent to note that from our investigations, some of the 27 associations have not been living up to the expectations of the NSC,’’ Bello said.

    He said admission of persons who were not genuine shippers into the associations was not healthy.

    He urged OYSSA not to pursue a path that would not be in consonance with the objectives of the association, urging members to be above board.

    “Maritime industry remains a key gateway to the nation’s industrial growth and the pivot on which even the oil and gas industry stands.

    “At the centre of operation in the industry, the key players are the shippers whose cargoes are the major attraction to both the shipping companies and the terminal operators,’’ Bello said.

    He said the shippers’ associations were expected to play critical roles that would enhance the ports’ “regulatory responsibility”.

    Bello said this would enable the council to succeed in restoring sanity and regulating the charges being imposed by the firms and the terminal operators.

     

  • Fed Govt to evolve world-class transport system

    The Federal Government is set to evolve a world-class transport system that will position Nigeria as a hub in West and Central Africa.

    Speaking at the 12th Intermodal Africa 2014 Exhibition and Conference in Lagos, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, said the government would establish a safe, efficient, affordable and seamless intermodal transport system in line with global best practices.

    He canvassed an enabling environment for Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

    Over 700 participants attended the event.

    The promotion of inter-modalism, he said, envisaged among others, the connection of all state capitals, seaports, airports and river ports with railway lines to complement the road infrastructure across the country.

    He said the Ministry of Transport, approved the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to host the exhibition and conference as a reflection of the Federal Government’s efforts and determination to showcase the programmes and projects being undertaken under the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The maritime sector, the minister said, remains a key sector of the economy, adding that its enormous potential deserves continuous harnessing to meet the expectations of the government and the people.

    “Over the last two years, Nigeria has been carrying out a number of reform measures aimed at enhancing the operational efficiency in the various ports. For instance, the 24-hour operation has been achieved in the Lagos Ports where more than 60 per cent of our port activities take place.

    “For the long term, the government is making concerted efforts towards ensuring the development of deep seaports in the country. This is the ultimate solution to the port congestion as the cargo handling capacity is beyond their designed capacity.

    “The Federal Government has approved the development of the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos, which is expected to handle bigger vessels, and create employment. The port is to be developed under Public-Private Partnership (PPP),” he said.

    In maritime safety and security, the minister said the deal between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the private sector is yielding results.

    The Federal Government, he added, has granted approval to NIMASA for the removal of wrecks and derelicts on a ‘no-cure-no-pay’ basis to provide for safe navigation in our waterways.

    The Managing Director NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi urged the participants to key into the Federal Government programmes by investing in the transport sect.

    The potential of the sector, Abdullahi said, is enormous and called for synergy between the government and the private investors to promote the transport sector and boost the economy.