The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Govt moves to make dry ports functional

    The Federal Government is set to make dry ports functional to reduce congestion at sea ports and bring shipping services to importers’ doorsteps.

    The government, sources said, would soon declare the dry ports as ports of destination and centres of exports in all its locations.

    The dry ports are in Ibadan, Kano, Isiala-Ngwa (Abia), Jos, Funtua (Katsina State) and Maiduguri.

    Acting Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Mr Hassan Bello said the dry ports, otherwise known as Inland Container Depots and Container Freight Stations, were created by the government to solve the perennial problem of port congestion.

    He said the dry ports were being driven by Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, adding that the government had been facing the teething problem of appropriate legal framework for the dry ports project to take off.

    He said the dry ports would be more effective if arrangement was made for an effective rail service.

    The Shippers’ Council boss said the Federal Ministry of Transport recently inaugurated a committee to examine the challenges facing the take-off of the dry ports.

    The management of the Council, sources said, is also set to stop terminal operators from introducing arbitrary charges at port to facilitate trade at ports.

    Shippers’ Council, sources said, is worried about the unholy activities of some terminal operators who will like to charge arbitrarily and it is set to checkmate their activities.

    Bello, the source said, would soon announce port charges that would be acceptable to importers, exporters and the port concessionaires.

    The Council, investigation showed, has succeeded in stabilising freight rates on Nigerian-bound cargoes to boost economy activities in the country.

    Bello told the paper that the council had embarked on negotiation with global shipping lines to stabilise freight rates.

    He said the appointment of a commercial regulator for the shipping industry would end the monopoly of powers.

    Bello said commercial regulation would increase and encourage participation of more private investors and increase the mechanism for settlement of disputes.

    He said the regulator would control the entry and exit of operators, adding that the NSC had been saddled with that responsibility.

    The chief executive also noted that there was a tendency by some shippers to short-change the government through false declaration.

    False declaration, he explained, would add so many days to the cargo dwell time, adding that this would result to demurrage and congestion.

    “We have been intervening in areas of tariffs, benchmark-ing and service delivery. A law passed in 1978 must have got some requirements for review. Now that port facilities are run by the private sector; large reforms in rail, road sector, it is expected there should be a commercial regulator,” he said.

  • Govt advised to develop railway for heavy cargoes

    THE Federal Government has been advised to develop the railway to facilitate the carrying of goods, especially heavy cargoes, that are transported by road.

    An expert in marine transport and Principal Partner at Multi-system Consult, Dr Wale Adetigba, said the interconnectivity of the rail to water ways was important.

    “Marine transport is a component part of transportation system and from my professional training and experience, marine transport cannot operate in isolation from other modes of transportation, especially with rail system,” he said.

    Maritime lawyer and a don, Mr Dipo Alaka, said if the link is right, the cost of goods in the market will be reduced.

    “When goods come into the country, the only means of distribution is by road. Unfortunately, the roads are bad. My position is that we need to revisit the rail that is missing in our transport system. As long as the rail system is absent, it will be difficult to have problem-free port operations. The cost of port operation will continue to be high,” he stressed.

    He said the port system was increasingly becoming automated, noting that the Federal Government has to respond to the global thinking of mechanisation.

    He, however, added that expertise and modern equipment are needed to operate an efficient port system needed attention.

    According to Adetigba, marine transport is essential to the operation of any country’s economy and a vital part of any nation’s transport system.

    Without marine transport, Nigeria would have been landlocked and its economy would have remained stagnant in different areas, he added.

  • How importers lose N2b weekly

    Shipping companies are depriving importers of over N2 billion weekly for allegedly refusing to refund their container deposit fee, The Nation has learnt.

    The Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC) has appealed to the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Mr Hassan Bello, to address the problem.

    The President of the group, Chief Osita Patrick Chukwu, told Bello that the shipping companies hide under different guises to perpetrate the fraud. He alleged that agencies such as the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are being included among agencies that should collect revenue through debit notes.

    “Freight forwarders lose N2 billion weekly as regards container deposits. Some shipping companies fraudulently use one system or the other to exonerate themselves from paying the shippers back. Initially, we thought the concessioning will be of elevation from where we were before; the question now is, is it not better to go back to where we were before the concession?” he asked.

    Replying, Bello said the port reform embarked upon by the government seven years ago was to reduce the cost of clearing goods and eliminate corruption.

    Nigeria, he said, was still grappling with high cost of doing business, which should have been reduced after the port reforms.

    “The issue of corruption if care is not taken will work against the port reforms. In the past six years, we have been making reforms, and corruption is the victim of these reforms. Port reforms are supposed to address issues of corruption. Fighting corruption does not mean to arrest people and prosecute them. The moment you reform a system, it means you are fighting corruption,” he stressed.

  • New shipping policy coming

    For economic reasons, the Federal Government is to adopt a new shipping policy.

    The government is to change from Free on Board (FoB) to Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) in the national interest, The Nation has gathered.

    For now, goods are bought from Nigeria on FoB basis, but the country trades with others under CIF.

    FoB, sources said, gives those importing from the country the opportunity to pay for the shipment and landing costs of their goods from the ports.

    Government, the source said, is adopting CIF because it gives the seller the right to arrange for the shipping of goods to a port of his choice, and provide the buyer with the documents to collect them from the carrier.

    The source said the problem faced by indigenous owners was the failure to enforce the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA) Act, 2007, almost six years after its enactment.

    Nigeria, he said, is the only country still using FoB.

    He said indigenous shipping firms had over the years been grappling with lack of cargo support, leading many of them to close down.

    Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Maritime Services Mr Leke Oyewole said at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, United States that work had been completed on the policy change to help indigenous operators.

    According to him, all that is left now is for the Economic Management Team (EMT) to take a final look at the document before presenting it to the President for assent.

    He said: “The EMT always has a long list of issues to attend to. They were to have that meeting last month but it was not possible. But I can tell you that within this month, most likely it will be discussed and when it is discussed and it is agreed at that level, then it will be left to the President to just sign. Once he signs, it becomes an order.”

    President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu said the country was losing billions of naira from the continued use of FoB .

    Shittu described as “good”, the government’s plan to adopt CIF.

  • Govt urged to ban motorcyclists at ports

    THE Federal Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have been urged to stop the operation of commercial motorcyclists at the Tin Can Island because of the danger they pose to security.

    Over 150 Okada riders, investigation has revealed, do illegal business at the port.

    Importers, terminal operators and other stakeholders alleged that the Okada riders are responsible for high crime rates at port.

    Most of the commercial motorcyclists at the port, operators claimed, could be used to attack the port, adding that they always drive against the traffic and move around the port from between 7.00am till about 8.30pm.

    Importers said they were not happy that the illegal activities of the Okada riders were being perpetrated in the full glare of security agents.

    When The Nation visited the port about 11.30am on Friday, and between 6 pm and 6.45pm last Saturday, over 150 of the riders were seen ‘on duty’.

    Apart from creating a noisy environment within the port, they also endanger the lives of the passengers they carry as they struggle with trailers laden with containers to find their ways.

    One of the importers, Mr Felix Johnson, said they were not happy over the development because in the past many people were either wounded or lost their valuables.

    He said most of the Okada riders were among those banned from the highways by the Lagos State Government.

    Also, a clearing agent, Mr Sunday Ogoegbunam, said: “Few days ago, officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and port police came to harass and detain some of our members that are doing their legal business at the port by calling them unwanted persons at the port. But why have they not arrested the Okada riders that are doing illegal business at the port? What are they doing here? Who introduced them to the port? Who is covering them up and because of what? These are the questions that need to be answered by those that are embarrassing our members at the ports.”

    Others bemoaned the activities of the Okada riders at the port, urging the Federal Government to do something about them.

    Efforts to get the General Manager, Public Affairs, NPA, Capt. Iheanacho Ebubuegbu, to speak on the issue proved abortive as he did not pick calls to him about 7.20pm on Saturday.

    However, the Public Relations Officer of Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Chris Osunkwo, said efforts were on to solve the problem.

  • Travellers to forfeit undeclared cash at airports, borders, others

    Travellers to forfeit undeclared cash at airports, borders, others

    All undeclared currencies will, hence forth, be forfeited to the Federal Government by travellers.

    Before now, the owners only lost 25 per cent of such money when caught.

    Following an amendment of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act (MLPA) 2011, the Customs has been empowered to ‘arrest’ undeclared currencies at sea ports, airports, and land border stations.

    The Customs, investigation revealed, has directed its officers to enforce the new law so as to meet its N1.5 trillion revenue target for this year.

    Customs Comptroller-General Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi , sources said, has directed that the law be enforced to sanitise the border posts.

    Customs, in a March 4 circular signed by Tahir Musa directed all Deputy Comptrollers-General, Assistant Comptrollers-General, Customs Area Controllers (CACs), and Heads of Units, to seize the cash that is not declared by the people who are travelling.

    The document entitled: Amendment of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 read in part:

    “I am directed to inform all officers of the Service that Sect. 2 (5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, (MLPA) 2011 has been amended.

    “All officers of the Service are by this circular to note that the previous penalty of ‘forfeiture of nothing less than 25 per cent of the undeclared currency’ at all our entry/exit points has been changed to outright forfeiture, on conviction, with the deletion of the phrase ‘not less than 25 per cent of undeclared currency.

    “You are to give this circular the widest circulation.”

    Sources said anybody who fails to declare all his currency to the Customs while travelling out of the country either through the seaports, airports, and land border stations would be seized as it is against Part 1, Section 2 (3) of Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011.

  • NIMASA gets nod to build shipyard

    • Agency denies allegation of compulsory retirement of workers

     

    The Federal Government has given the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) the green light to establish a shipyard to boost the nation’s capacity building.

    NIMASA’s Director-General Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, told The Nation that the shipyard would create jobs and arrest capital flight, noting that millions of dollars are lost in procuring vessels outside the country.

    According to him, the development of a shipyard will now enable cadets graduating from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN) in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, to have a place for their practice.

    To make the shipyard viable, he said the private sector would be involved in its management.

    “We will not only build ships; there will be a facility for dry docking in the shipyard. We are bringing in the private sector because we want to avoid the pitfall that goes with the government being single-handedly involved in this kind of business.

    “Our belief is that if it is successfully completed and managed, we will not only create employment opportunities, but also arrest capital flight as many vessels calling in Nigerian ports will have a facility for dry docking instead of going elsewhere to do it,” he said.

    NIMASA has denied that it asked some of its workers to proceed on compulsory retirement.

    In a memo signed by its Director of Administration and Personnel Services, Mr Chuks Mgbemena, NIMASA said the scheme was open to workers only on Grade Levels 15 to 17, with less than five years in service prior to attaining the mandatory retirement age of 60 years or 35 years in service and eight years for directors.

    The Deputy Director, Public Relations, Hajia Lami Tumaka, said the agency only advised interested workers in the above category to write and seek further clarification from the Administration and Personnel Services Department.

    She said the scheme was not new to the agency as it is part of the agency’s conditions of service.

    The image maker said the scheme was put in place to encourage workers who may be willing to retire early to go into some other ventures not to lose out on their outstanding years of service.

    “In order to encourage early voluntary retirement, staff who have five years or less to retirement by years of age or years of service may be offered lump sum payment. The payment shall be based on Annual Terminal Base Salary for the remaining active years of service and pro rata. All other entitlements shall also apply. The lump sum payment inducement option shall, however, be subject to management discretion to invoke it as and when it deems necessary,” she said.

    She said the scheme is not the right of staff as this scheme could only be applied at the discretion of the Executive Management.

  • CBN to bar erring importers from forex market

    Importers without the Risk Assessment Reports (RARs) will be barred from the foreign exchange (forex) market from today, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned.

    The importers would also face other sanctions, the CBN said.

    RAR is issued following inspection of goods under the prevailing destination inspection regime run by scanning service providers.

    The CBN’s warning is in a circular entitled: Uncollected Risk Assessment Report (RAR), posted on its website last weekend.

    The circular signed by CBN’s Director, Trade and Exchange Department, Batari Musa, said some RARs issued by the operators not been collected by importers from their processing banks.

    The implication, CBN said, is import duties may not have been paid for by importers, thereby denying the government of revenue.

    CBN said: “In view of this development, the owners of all uncollected RARs issued on or before 31 December, 2012, and which remain uncollected till date are hereby requested to collect RARs from their banks and pay all necessary duties, taxes and penalties. This should be done not later than 30th April, 2013.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, failure to collect the outstanding RARs and pay the duty, taxes and other charges associated with the underlying import transactions, will result in the imposition of appropriate sanctions which include suspension from the forex market by the CBN until all outstanding RARS are accounted for.

    “Where duties, taxes and penalties had been paid, owners of the uncollected RARs should provide evidence of utilisation of the RARs, which should include single goods declaration (SGD), registration number and date, as well as amount paid.

    “Authorised dealers are hereby required to render returns (in both hard and soft copies) in excel format on all Uncollected RARs issued on or before December 31, 2012 on a month by month basis.

    “The returns, which should be on such RARs that remain uncollected after the expiration of the deadline, should be forwarded to the CBN not later than May 7, 2013.”

  • Removal of ship wrecks in Lagos to cost N20b

    Removal of ship wrecks in Lagos to cost N20b

    • Exercise may take three years

    IT will cost the Federal Government over N20billion to remove the 200 ship wrecks on the Lagos coastline, it has been learnt.

    Besides, the removal, sources told The Nation last weekend, will last between 30 and 36 months when the exercise begins.

    Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development Adesegun Oniru complained last week about the eye sore the ship wrecks have become, saying they pose a threat to life and property.

    The commissioner said abandoned vessels were partly responsible for the problem of ocean surge, adding that the environmental problem had devastated lives and communities in the state.

    “The problem of ship wrecks is a major issue in the state as it is in other states of the federation.

    “No fewer than 200 of these vessels have been uncovered on the state’s coastline, including the lagoon.

    “The situation poses great danger to the state as well as the citizens.

    “Unfortunately, the NPA and Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), who are responsible for maritime safety, are not doing anything about this problem.

    “We have written to the Federal Government on a number of occasions on the problem, but we are yet to get replies let alone assistance.

    “We are appealing to NIMASA and other relevant authorities to assist the state by removing these vessels for the safety of residents and the environment,“ he said.

    Sources at the Federal Ministry of Transport said the wrecks may not be removed this year, because of the huge financial cost, adding that increasing vessel sizes and growing cargo volumes are driving up the cost.

    The source said a vessel, MT Ray, that was washed ashore the Lekki coastline sometime in 2011, has sunk.

    NIMASA, it was learnt, has sent in a tender for the job, but the contract is yet to be awarded.

    It was gathered that the NIMASA Board cannot award without going through the Ministry of Transport – the Bureau of Public Enterprises and the Federal Executive Council.

    In layers of authorities, sources said, are politicians and civil servants with vested interest in the contract.

    Explaining the reasons responsible for the delay in the removal of the wrecks, the Secretary, Association of Indigenous Ship Owners (ISAN), Captain Niyi Labinjo, said the country does not have the required capacity to put broken down vessels back into shape. This, he said, accounts for the increasing number of wrecks and abandoned vessels on the Lagos waters.

    Lack of capacity to remove the wrecks by indigenous companies, he said, is why they have not been removed despite President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive when he visited Lekki Beach in Lagos last year.

    The ISAN scribe also painted a grim picture of the maritime industry, saying that the Federal Government is only interested in collecting revenue accruing from it but not willing to develop the sector based on its bad and inconsistent policies.

    Labinjo said the dearth of adequate infrastructure to repair broken down vessels on the nation’s coastline, necessitated the decision of the NPA to take its 6,000 tonnes floating dock, which sank in Lagos in 2011 to Ghana for repair, after it had been refloated.

  • Customs, operators disagree over destination inspection

    Can the Customs handle destination inspection (DI) after the exit of the three operators in June?

    The Customs says it can handle the scheme; but one of the operators, Global Scansystem, claims that the agency cannot.

    According to the Managing Director of Global Scansystem, Mr Fred Udechukwu, there is a risk of cancer outbreak if the cargo scanners installed at the seaports, airports and border posts are left in the hands of untrained and inexperienced Customs officers.

    Udechukwu told reporters in Lagos that Customs has no engineer to take over the job.

    But Customs Area Comptroller, Tin Can Island command, Mr Tajudeen Olanrewaju, denied the claim, describing the allegation as uncharitable

    The Customs, he says, has competent hands to handle Destination Inspection.

    The DI contract was extended by six months in January 1, under the term of the contract, the operators are to provide, operate, and maintain the hi-tec scanners at the port. They also to train customs in operating and maintain the machines.

    Udechukwu alleged that efforts by the service providers to train customs officers on this critical aspect of the contract were thwarted by some officers.

    ‘’For Global Scan, the contract stipulates that we should train 350 officers, but I insisted that that number is too negligible to make an impact, we have so far trained 1600 officers and we are still training. However, the officers are not trainable in the operations and maintenance of scanner because of the dearth of officers with the requisite knowledge in engineering courses. Customs has no engineer,’’ Udechukwu said.

    He said the few officers that were trained by them were not allowed to stay for the mandatory period for supervision before they were redeployed by their superiors.