The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Delay as Customs server breaks down

    The frequent breakdown of the server of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Lagos and Onne ports, Rivers State, is causing delay in cargo clearance.

    Agents and importers said they were facing difficulties in transacting businesses within specified periods.

    The clearing agents fingered the Tin Can Island Port Complex (TCIPC) and the Ports Terminal Multi-services Limited (PTML) terminals in Lagos, as the worst hit by the epileptic service by Webb Fontaine.

    Agents and importers complained bitterly about the incessant failure of the Customs’ internet server, describing its frequent breakdown as an act of sabotage by the service provider.

    Freight forwarders operating in Lagos could not carry out their business due to the failure of the server. The challenge, which has been ascribed to human failure, is affecting the capture of information and release of cargoes.

    A clearing agent, Segun Ogunsanu, said the server was down for a day while importers accumulated demurrage and storage charges on their consignments.

    Likewise, at Onne Port, epileptic Customs server is hindering cargo clearance procedures, the agents, said.

  • Prices of new, Tokunbo vehicles may go up

    Prices of new and fairly used vehicles may be high following the introduction of new fiscal measures on imported vehicles.

    Under the measures import duty payable on new and fairly used vehicles rose from 20 to 70 per cent.

    Sources at the Ministry of Finance said the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, sent a memo to the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi directing him to collect 35 per cent duty on imported fully built unit (FBU) cars and 35 per cent levy, bringing to 70 per cent the total charges to be paid by the importers.

    A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a copy of the November 14 memo, was also sent to the three service providers at the airports and seaports: Global Scan System and SGS Nigeria Limited, Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

    The source said the government introduced the policy following the coming of the automotive industry development plan about six weeks ago.

    He said the policy was designed to boost activities in the industry and also attract local and foreign investors into the nation’s moribund auto-motive industry.

    The source said, the memo sent by the Finance Minister on the increase in duty, from the present 20 per cent, is in tandem with the announcement made recently by the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga.

    As part of the new policy anonounced byAganga, local auto manufacturers, such as VON Automobile Limited (formerly Volkswagen), Ojo, Lagos; National Trucks Manufacturers, Kano; Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Limited, Nnewi, Anambra State; PAN Nigeria, Kaduna and other auto makers in the country, will no longer pay duties or levies on their Completely Knocked Down (CKD) sets imported from their overseas partners while Semi-Knocked Down (SKD) components for the local production of vehicles shall attract only five per cent duty without levy.

    The above measures, the source said, was taken by the government to create an environment to support existing assembly plants and attract other vehicles spare part manufacturers who have expressed interest in investing in the country.

  • Customs cancels leave to fight smuggling

    Customs cancels leave to fight smuggling

    As part of measures to curb smuggling during the Yuletide, the Customs has cancelled leave for its officials at borders till February next year.

    The officials, it was learnt, are not to apply for leave until next year.

    The Nation learnt that the action was taken because smuggling is known to rise during the Yuletide.

    To buttress this claim, over 4,500 bags of rice were said to have been seized at Seme Border in the last few weeks.

    Worried by the development, the area command has resolved to henceforth arrest and prosecute smugglers.

    A source said Customs took the decision because imports and transit activities around the borders are rising as the Yuletide approaches.

    The patrol vehicles, logistics and personnel have also been deployed in smuggling routes.

    In a November 5 circular, the Seme Area Controller, Comptroller Abdu Saleh said: ”Leave, passes and permits for absence to all personnel of this command have been cancelled with a view to ensuring that all our operatives are fully on ground during the Yuletide.”

    He said the command could not afford to disappoint the Federal Government and the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr Abdullahi Dikko whose commitment to the realisation of the full potential of the Service has been unparalleled.

    He also reiterated the Customs zero tolerance for smuggling to officers and men of the command, urging them to strictly keep to the roaster for  rotational shift duties aimed at ensuring round-the-clock presence of personnel.

    Saleh implored officers to discharge their duties at the border without compromise and rededicate themselves to making the national interest paramount.

    The circular added: “We must not be taken unawares at our duty posts either at this period or at any other time as management expects us to be very much at alert, discharging our duties with utmost vigilance and uncompromising tenacity.

    ‘’Our core functions of preventing and  suppressing smuggling; collecting and accounting for all revenue due to the government; facilitating genuine import and export businesses at the border and promoting national security must be discharged without fear or favour not minding whose ox is gored.

    ‘’We should, through our words and conduct, assure legitimate business people of our support and cooperation at all times while warning them that the command will not condone any attempt to evade duty payments through concealment, under valuation, insincere declaration and other sharp practices aimed at compromising our revenue collection efforts.

    ‘’Nobody should treat our warnings with levity as not only will we make seizures of prohibited or smuggled items, we will ensure the arrests and prosecution of all persons behind these unlawful acts.

    “Do not forget to put national interest high and above every other interests while discharging your duties,’’ the Comptroller said.

    When The Nation contacted the Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr Ernest Olottah, he said tough times are indeed awaiting smugglers.

    He said despite the down turn in the volume of trade at the border, the command collected N6,681,323,252.36, as revenue between January and October this year, while it made 914 seizures with a duty paid value of N438,302,399.00 in the same period.

    The 26 people arrested during the period, he said, were at various stages of prosecution. The items seized included rice, vehicles, textile, vegetable oil, second hand clothes , shoes, bags, artifacts, and other prohibited items.

     

  • Stakeholders task reporters

    Stakeholders have commended reporters’ association for their contributions to the development of the maritime industry in the last 25 of its existence and urged them not to relent in their efforts.

    The Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN), which is an umbrella body of accredited journalists, is an affiliate of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). On December 12, the association will clock 25 years.

    Speaking with The Nation, the founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, said the reporters have impacted positively on the maritime sector of the economy.

    Aniebonam also said, the association has successfully played the role of a watchdog in the maritime sector.

    Also, the President of Women in Shipping Transport Association (WISTA), Nigeria Mrs. Jean Chiazor-Anishere eulogised the association for its positive contribution to the sector.

    Anishere said MARAN, as a watchdog, has brought to the doorstep of the parastatals changes that are necessary for the growth of the industry and the nation’s economy.

    “Though they have contributed immensely to growth of the industry, they still need to use their power as the watchdog of the maritime industry to push for good policies for the sector,” she advised.

  • NAGAFF to hold election

    The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) is set to hold election into its various offices in the Eastern Zone, after dissolving its executive.

    Rising after a 10-hour meeting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, last week, the National President, Chief Eugene Nweke, announced that election would be held in Area 1, Airport, Onne and Calabar chapters of the body.

    He said the meeting has agreed to hold the election early next year to further strengthen and reposition the association for a greater future.

    Nweke urged the electoral committee to kick-start the electioneering process which he said, must be in line with the provisions of their constitution.

    NAGAFF’s Chairman, Board of Trustees, Chidiebere Enelamah urged them to display the spirit of sportsmanship before, during and after the forthcoming elections.

    Mr Maxwell Ariyo was appointed as the head of the electoral committee.

  • Govt told to review tariff

    The Federal Government has been urged to review port tariff and make the ports attractive for business.

    Importers and clearing agents said the ports may witness low volume of imports next year if the government did not act fast.

    Importers and clearing agents who spoke with The Nation, said the review has become necessary to eliminate arbitrariness and ensure parity with other ports, particularly those of neighbouring countries.

    The National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANALCA), Price Olayiwola Shittu, said port tariffs were not commensurate with the services rendered by terminal operators and they make the ports uncompetitive.

    He said the terminal operators need to emulate the Nigerian Shippers’Council that has abolished service charges, bank charge, commission on turnover and concessionaires’ service charge to reduce the cost of doing business in the ports.

    Also, the Managing Director, Folas Motors, Chief Fola Alakija, said the council had been implementing the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) project on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis to bring shipping to the door of importers.

    He said despite the claim by the government that it has reduced its agencies at the ports, some are still posing big challenges to port operations.

    The importer said there was the need to revive and modernise the railway as a primary mode for long distance haulage of cargo and to free the Lagos ports road.

    According to him, the railway will also reduce the cost of transporting cargo in and out of the ports and create employment.

    Alakija said there was the need to embrace a single window operation to eliminate human contact and the use of discretion, which has been identified as the biggest obstacle to quick cargo clearance from the port.

    He said the single window operation would not only facilitate trade, but also eliminate fraud and improve revenue generation.

  • Rice smuggling rises as Xmas draws near

    As the yuletide approaches, rice smuggling through Seme and Idi-Iroko borders has risen.

    The high cost of the commodity is responsible for the smuggling, it was learnt.

    Investigation by The Nation around the border areas in Lagos and Ogun states indicated that smugglers use small buses to bring the producer to the market.

    For instance, when The Nation visited Ajilete in Ogun State last week, over 20 buses were seen carrying the commodity to Lusada Market in Agbara.

    Between Owode and Lusada market, investigation revealed that there was no single Customs check point, which made smuggling easy and safe.

    From Atan, a town close to Luzada, there were only two patrol vehicles of the Customs from FOU ‘Zone A’ stationed on the road to Sango Otta.

    Some of the rice traders in the area attributed the increased smuggling to port charges introduced by the Federal Government.

    One of them, Mr. Yinka Balogun, said the increase in duty paid to the Customs created the loophole for importers to evade payment and encouraged smuggling through land borders.

    Apart from rice, other smuggled goods include second hand vehicles, textile materials, used clothes, bags, shoes, tyres, rice, frozen chicken, and turkey, vegetable oil, soap, furniture sweet, apples, pineapple, palm oil, sweet and cigarettes,

    Investigation also revealed that tough times awaited Customs officials posted to curb the nefarious activities at the Luzada area as some smugglers use motorcycles to monitor the movement of Customs officer from the market to Agbara and Sango.

  • Ship owners lament failure of Cabotage Act

    The Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (ISAN) has bemoaned the inability of the Federal Government to enforce the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable its members participate in crude oil lifting.

    Speaking in Lagos, ISAN General Secretary, Capt. Niyi Labinjo urged the government to implement the law so that indigenous companies participate in oil business.

    The country, he said, exports about 2.5 million barrels of oil daily, wondereing why indigenous ship owners are not empowered to lift about 1.5 million barrels.

    The banks, Labinjo said, are willing to give them loans if the government can give them appreciable quantity to carry.

    He cited Brazil where the government approved about 700 agencies, which were issuing certificate of compliance on local content.

    Labinjo said about five years ago, the government trained 200 cadets under the National Seafarers Development Programme, and regretted that since there was not enough shipping companies to work with, the cadets had been rendered jobless.

    He advised the government to provide enough funds for the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), Oron, Akwa Ibom, to enable it produce skilful cadets.

    Labinjo sought proper compliance with the Nigerian Content Act and encouragement to participate fully, in the Cabotage regime.

    “We will continue to press the government. We’ll continue to make our views known about the need for proper compliance with cabotage; about the need for proper compliance with the Nigerian Content Act.

    “If we have a government that insists that this year out of the 2.5 million barrels of oil that Nigeria exports, 1.5 million barrels would be carried by Nigerians and they say, ‘ISAN take this 1.5 million barrels, go and carry it, we will gladly go to the bank; the bank will give us money and we will do it’.

    “So, if you now say, ‘what is our expectation? ’Then, we will now say this year, we will struggle to carry the one million the government has given to us and hopefully by next year, we will do 1.5 million barrels. That is the expectation.

    “That is what has happened in the case of Brazil.Their government insists that you must use local content and the government approves about 700 agencies which were issuing certificate of compliance on local content.

    “So, if you are producing this locally and it is being used by the oil and gas sector, someone will intend to continue to do it,” he said.

  • Fashola faults waterways law

    Fashola faults waterways law

    • ‘Lagos doesn’t need permit to build bridge’

    Does the Lagos State government require a permit to build the Lekki link bridge over the lagoon or develop municipal water transportation? No, says Governor Babatunde Fashola, who described as “ridiculous” the stand of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) that the state required such permit before embarking on those measures.

    NIWA is the Federal Government agency responsible for water transportation and related matters.

    It is insisting that the state government cannot undertake such a project without its approval.

    Dismissing NIWA’s claim, Fashola said at the 13th National Council on Transportation in Lagos that his administration did not require such permit before bringing development to the people.

    “The Lekki link bridge and water transportation are projects that will benefit the people for which we don’t need to get a permit before embarking on them,” he said.

    Pointing out that his administration will go on with the construction of the bridge and may not wait for the Federal Government’s approval, he said: “I find it objectionable where NIWA asks me to come to it and obtain a permit to set up a jetty in my own lagoon; we will not stand for it.”

    Fashola said developing water transport as an alternative to road transport would create jobs and reduce transportation crisis in Lagos.

    To protect their interest and influence government policies, shippers have resolved to come under one umbrella.

    The President of Shipping Association of Lagos State, Rev. Jonathan Nicol, said fragmented pressure groups in the shipping industry had not helped shippers.

    The various groups, he said, would be united under the supervision of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), adding that such groups as Importers Association of Nigeria, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition and shippers associations across the federation would fuse to speak with one voice and influence government policies. The time, he said, had come when shippers should not be left out of decision- making by the government

    “There is the need for all shippers in various organisations and associations to come together under one umbrella of NSC. We will form a very big umbrella to protect the shippers and speak with one voice,” he said. There should be no more dissenting views and that will give us credibility with the Nigeria Customs and other government agencies,” he said.

    He said the Shippers Association of Lagos State would invite all the shipping related associations for one of the biggest conferences in Lagos in the first quarter of next year to achieve the objective of speaking with one voice and clearing goods in the ports with minimal delay and cost. “We will be building up the biggest shippers association in the West African sub region,” he added.

    The association, he said, would extend its facilities to all other associations and use the mechanism of NSC to reach out to the government on policy issues relating to tariffs and the type of goods that should be imported. “We will be in a position to advise the government on some of the harsh policies that needed to be reviewed in order to promote huge flow of imports into the country,” he added.

    He said presenting the problems of individual shippers in one front would be rewarding, noting that this would usher in a new regime of cargo clearing in the sector in partnership with the Nigeria Customs as the sole government agency responsible for cargo clearance.

  • Workers kick as firm plans tank farm for ports

    Workers kick as firm plans tank farm for ports

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) workers are kicking over the planned building of a tank farm and pipeline by the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) across the NPA dockyard and waterfront in Apapa.

    President of Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporations (SSACTAC) Comrade Omeiza Umar told reporters in Lagos that for safety reason the project should not be allowed.

    He said if the project is allowed, it would cost the government a lot in revenue, block entry and exit from the Apapa dockyard, subject facilities to explosion and pose serious threat to lives and properties.

    The Apapa dockyard, he said, had only one entry/exit point, with a pipeline laid by NIPCO. Establishing another pipeline along the quay apron is an invitation to disaster because the only available escape route in case of emergency would have been blocked by the same NIPCO, he said.

    He said: “If NIPCO is allowed to go ahead with its obnoxious intention, the navigational channel of about 1.5km will be blocked and any attempt to check vessels and NPA tug boats shall lead to collision with the pipe and there will be explosion, fire and spillage of product.

    “There exists a pilotage district within Lagos ports. The Joint Venture Company (JVC) handling the pilotage of Lagos district is located at the dockyard where tug boats and dredgers are berthed. The JVC called Continental Shipyard Limited (CSL), repairs ship and vessels of NPA and other third party jobs. This company repairs the tug boats, dredgers and pilot cutters of NPA with priority preference and at half the cost as compared with charges of similar companies such as Nigerdock.”

    Besides, he noted that there also exists a dolphin that anchored the floating dock of NPA awaiting repairs to class. This has cost NPA some fortune. We don’t have another dolphin to anchor the floating dock and we cannot afford to give away the existing one for mere piping of petroleum products to NIPCO jetty because without NIPCO Nigerians will not lack products, he added.

    He also explained that NPA has dredged the waterways and channels of Lagos pilotage district to make them navigable, which cost the government a huge amount of money. This was done for maritime operations and not for NIPCO tank farm and pipeline. Also the port reform that is yielding result would be reversed in the Lagos pilotage district by the unwarranted exercise of NIPCO as congestion at the port will return in an unimaginable level, he added.

    Umar said: “The ports of Nigeria are neither petroleum ports nor tank farm ports; however, there exists jetties for oil terminals. We advise NIPCO to look for virgin area (green field) like Oando did at Takwa Bay and established its tank farms there, for instance, Ogogoro village or Snake Island.

    He said the government should make it a point of duty for investors to invest genuinely not to struggle for existing structures that are of great importance to the economy such as dockyard of Apapa. We members of SSACTAC, will not fold our arms and allow corrupt government officials collude with NIPCO to short-change Nigerians and sabotage government’s efforts at developing the maritime sector.

    Reacting, a NIPCO source told The Nation in confidence that the workers were being mischievous, saying the company was not planning to build any tank-farm or pipeline. The source said what the company intended to do, is to build a jetty where ships bringing products to it would berth to discharge. The source explained that the group was there when the company conducted public hearing on the issue, advertised it in major national newspapers and electronic media and other requisite requirements and didn’t complain.