The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • 17,500 tonnes of wheat expected today

    ABOUT 100 ships, including one laden with 17,500 tonnes of bulk wheat, are expected at the Lagos port before the end of this month.

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said the Golden Ship carrying the bulk wheat would berth at the Apapa Bulk Terminal today.

    It said 16 of the expected ships would arrive with petroleum products, 15 would sail in with new and fairly used vehicles and 46 containers of different goods.

    The document showed that other ships would arrive with rice, fresh fish, bulk sugar, general cargo, bulk malt steel products, diplomatic, semi trailers and palm oil.

    About 14 ships are waiting to discharge petroleum products at the oil terminals within the port. The document shows that six of the ships will discharge petrol, three will discharge diesel, two will discharge aviation fuel, one will discharge kerosene and another ethanol.

    It also shows that 11 other ships are waiting to discharge general cargo, bulk wheat, used and old vehicles, rice, containers.

    Nineteen ships are discharging various products, such as gypsum, bulk gas, container, fresh fish, wheat, rice, steel product and petroleum products.

     

  • Freight forwarders petition Jonathan over Customs Act

    The National Association of Government approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President David Mark over attempts to frustrate the amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) 1958.

    The association claims that there are “powerful forces”within the government bent on stopping the National Assembly from amending the law.

    The freight forwarders also requested House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki to intervene in the matter.

    In a January 11 letter exclusively obtained by The Nation, the association’s head of Legal Department, Mr Larry Okonkwo, said the CEMA Act could no longer address the challenges facing the industry.

    He wondered why some government officials are collaborating with unpatriotic elements to frustrate the amendment of the Act.

    NAGAFF said the amendment would not threaten the President’s power to appoint the Custom’s Comptroller-General. It urged the President to call to order government officials alleged to be serving the interests of their masters.

    “This amendment does not threaten the power of the President to appoint the Comptroller-General of Customs. It is the Constitution that empowers the President to also appoint the Inspector-General of Police, Directors-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and ministers.

    “This is a constitutional responsibility of the President as enunciated in Section 5 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.”

    NAGAFF said the power to appoint the Customs Comptroller-General and the Finance Minister responsible for the administration of the service rests with the President.

    The group said it was wrong for anyone or group to insinuate that the President’s powers would be eroded by some amendments as envisaged by the CEMA Bill before the National Assembly.

    NAGAFF said the bill only granted partial autonomy to Customs “which we think is good for a modern Customs to emerge”. It urged the President to support the passage of the bill.

    “The synopsis of the CEMA Bill seeks to give partial autonomy to the Nigeria Customs Service. This is, to us, a welcome development because it is in line with modern day public management trends. This will encourage innovation and shorten bureaucratic red tape.

    “The unnecessary interference with the operations of the service will create a counter-productive atmosphere that would hamper the smooth and efficient running of the service,” the group said.

     

  • Ibadan container depot ready

    THE Oyo State Shippers’ Association has said the first phase of Ibadan Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Erunmu is ready for inauguration.

    Its President, Dr Ayo Omotoso, said the concessionaire, Catamaran Logistics Limited, would move into the depot with their foreign partners after the event.

    Omotoso said the rail line from Lagos to Ibadan and Kano had been rehabilitated.

    He said this would facilitate the take-off of the Ibadan dry port and others across the country.

    He commended the Federal Government for the project, adding that containers could conveniently be transported by rail to the ICD sites. The shipper said the ICDs and the container freight stations (CFSs) were user facilities with public authority status.

    He said the Ibadan ICD would handle imports and exports under the control of the Nigeria Customs Service NCS) and other agencies.

    The Federal Government, in 2006, granted approval for the establishment of six ICDs and CFSs in the country.

    The ICD project was conceived by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as a solution to the problem of port congestion.

    The depots and stations approved for the six geo-political zones are located in Ibadan, Kano, Isiala-Ngwa, Jos, Maiduguri and Funtua.

    The delay in the implementation of the project is causing concern among stakeholders.

    The Oyo State government recently adopted a more proactive stand on the ICD project, unlike the past administrations which were not enthusiastic about the project.

    The Ibadan ICD has capacity for 50,000 containers (TEUS).

     

  • NPA gets two weeks to submit report on jetty fire

    NPA gets two weeks to submit report on jetty fire

    The Federal Government has given the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mallam Habbi Abdullahi, two weeks to submit a report on last week’s oil barge fire at the MRS Jetty at Tin Can Island, Lagos.

    The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, issued the directive during his official visit to the MRS Oil facility to ascertain the damage done by the multiple explosions at the jetty.

    He said the government is worried because of the strategic position of the port to the country’s economy.

    The report, the minister said, should dwell on the immediate and remote causes of the incident and how to prevent a recurrence.

    On the call by Governor Babatunde Fashola for the relocation of the tank farms because of the danger they pose to the port community and Lagos State, the minister said the report would advise the government on what to do.

    MRS Oil Group Executive Director, Amina Maina, said the company is still investigating the cause of the fire, adding that the barge was empty at the time of the incident.

    She said there was no casualty, adding that eight persons were injured.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Don’t be involved in cargo clearance’

    The Assistant Inspector-General of Police Zone 2, Alhaji Mamman Tsafe, has directed police officers in his zone to desist from interferring in cargo clearance at the ports.

    Tsafe, who gave the directive during a meeting with the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Zone A Victor Gbemudu and stakeholders in Lagos, said he has directed the Commissioners of the Lagos State Police Command and the Port Authority Police Command to restrain their officers from harassing customs agents in and around the ports.

    The police boss, who was responding to complaints of incessant harassment of agents by policemen, pleaded that grievances of the agents be documented and forwarded to his office while copies should be sent to the Inspector-General of Police, Comptroller-General of Customs and the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs Zone A for action.

    Some senior police officers, who attended the meeting, complained of being maltreated by port users prompting the police officers’aggressive reaction.

    Stakeholders at the meeting include the National President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu; founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr Boniface Aniebonam; Chairman, ANLCA Tin Can Chapter, Kayode Collins Farinto and Secretary, ANLCA Apapa Chapter, Olumide Fakanlu, among others.

  • NIMASA chief indicts influential Nigerians, foreigners over piracy

    The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Patrick Akpobolokemi has said illegalities on the waterways are perpetrated by some highly placed Nigerians and foreigners.

    He alleged that they provide arms for hoodlums and sea pirates.

    The agency, he said, would intensify its fight against pirates and oil thieves this year to stem criminality on the teritorial waters.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, he said the country lost over N445 million between February 2010 and February 2011 to sea robbery.

    Investigations showed that ships on illegal trade litter the territorial waters in violation of the Cabotage Act 2003.

    Some of these ships engage in illegal transshipment, bunkering, illegal transfer from mother vessels and dumping of harmful substances and ballast water.

    It was learnt that NIMASA and the Navy are reviewing their memorandum of understanding (MoU) to step up their anti-piracy war this year.

    According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), 56 piracy attacks occurred on Nigeria’s territorial waters in 2010, 119 in 2011 and about 70 last year.

    Akpobolokemi said the decline in piracy attacks indicated that NIMASA’s and Navy’s aggressive anti-piracy campaigns were yielding fruits.

    To tackle the menace, Akpobolokemi said the Federal Government has adopted 12 regulatory frameworks to ensure that the territorial waters are safe in line with the International Maritime Organisation Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Convention and International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution at Sea (MARPOL).

    The regulation borders on sewage, garbage dumps, ships registration and dangerous/obnoxious wastes, among others, he said.

    Asked whether the additional responsibility would not be too much for the agency, knowing that it had difficulties in enforcing the NIMASA Act and the Cabotage Act, Akpobolokemi said the major problem before now was the absence of operational platforms (patrol boats) for effective policing, which the contract with Messrs Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited (GWVSNL) has resolved.

  • Importers decry extension of destination inspectors’ contracts

    Importers decry extension of destination inspectors’ contracts

    The Federal Government has drawn the ire of port operators for extending by six months the contracts of Destination Inspectors (DIs).

    They are annoyed by the payment of one per cent Freight on Board (FoB) to the DIs despite what they describe as the “irrelevance” of Risk Assessment Report (RAR) to cargo clearance.

    According to the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), the Customs had since found that RAR was not sacrosanct and proposed to replace it with Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR).

    The government had approved PAAR to take effect from January 1 before it returned to RAR and extended the DIs contracts by six months.

    ANLCA, it was learnt, may shut seaports across the country next week in protest.

    Over 100 importers and clearing agents who met in Lagos last weekend were said to be annoyed over the extension of the DIs contracts, despite the planned introduction of PAAR.

    Sources at the meeting said the importers and agents were also concerned about the poor image generated by scanning machines provided by the DIs. A source alleged that the DIs failed to ensure that the right machines are provided for scanning cargoes, such that actual contents/images are generated without recourse to physical examination. This, it was said, always leads to physical examination of about 75 per cent of the cargoes thereby leading to delays.

    Condeming the reintroduction of RAR, ANLCA President Olayiwola Shittu said attachment of RAR to importer’s document “is merely to inform the Customs that this is the minimum amount you can pay.”

    “Although Customs has no right to reduce the duty payable under RAR, it has the right to review it upward and that has been giving us problem because there is evidence to show that importers have outsmarted them, by influencing RAR. A lot of RARs end up with additional debit note being issued on them.

    “So, if the RAR is just advisory, and Customs will still perform their function, why should we still continue issuing the RAR and, at the same time, paying the service providers one per cent fee for service that is not relevant again? That is our annoyance.

    “It would be of interest to Customs licensed agents that they have RAR in another form because what we are talking about is risk management system, but this time the document would be issued by Customs under the proposed PAAR and that would save us a lot of troubles.”

    Shittu went on: “What Customs is doing under RAR is check and balance. Even when the cargo is released, you see officers from the Customs Intelligent Unit (CIU), the valuation and examination units coming forward to say the amount you paid was not correct. But with the introduction of PAAR, they are trying to turn it to a one-stop-shop where PAAR will be the final documentation of assessment of your cargo by Customs to pay your duty, which is in line with the single window and one-stop-shop, which the Minister of Transport is working on. This is to allow importers to pay shipping companies and terminal operators once and carry their cargoes. That will save us a lot of problems and it will enable us to achieve the 48-hour cargo clearance policy.”

  • Customs introduces new cargo clearance method

    Customs introduces new cargo clearance method

    To facilitate cargo clearance at the ports, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has adopted the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR).

    Customs went for PAAR following the expiration of the contract given to service providers by the Federal Government on Risk Assessment Reports (RAR).

    PAAR, it was learnt, will be one single document for clearing goods.

    Customs, sources said, would hold sensitisation workshops for those that will implement PAAR.

    PAAR, it was gathered, would aid the 48-hour clearance of goods policy.

    The workshops for customs licensed agents, will dwell on the new clearing procedures, classification of goods and the time-tested valuation of goods’ processes. The workshops are expected to start soon.

    Young graduate officers, have been recruited and trained abroad and they will be deployed in the ports for intelligence gathering under PAAR, a source said.

    PAAR, the source said, would use pre-classification and prevaluation mechanisms to facilitate the importation of goods and enhance Customs efficiency.

    There will be an integrated Risk Management Platform to be shared by Customs, National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), among others, to ensure consistency and make cargo clearance easy under the new regime.

    It will also have a web-based system, using recent technologies to ensure a faster and more accurate service and generate PAAR not later than five working days for shipments by sea and two working days for shipments by air/land after receipt of documents (based on Import guidelines.

    President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Olayiwola Shittu, said the initiative is good, expressing hope that it would be well-implemented.

    While calling on the Federal Government to review the number of agencies at the ports, Shittu said PAAR would boost efficiency at the ports.

  • Four banks to manage N24b Cabotage Fund

    Four banks to manage N24b Cabotage Fund

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will start the disbursement of over N24 billion (about $160 million) from the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund (CVFF) to approved shipping operators early next year, The Nation has learnt.

    The Fund, which is aimed at promoting ship building under the Cabotage Act, is from the compulsory two to three per cent deduction on contracts by firms and organisations in the industry.

    The agency had screened qualified applicants, a source said.

    To avoid the mistakes of the past, sources said four banks—Diamond Bank, Sterling Bank, Fidelity Bank and Skye Bank — have been appointed to handle the disbursement to ensure that beneficiaries pay back the loan.

    It was learnt that selection of qualified applicants was still open to firms that were yet to apply.

    Besides, there is room for more banks to be invited to participate in the programme, the source said.

    The source, however, noted that some companies did not contribute the mandatory three per cent contract sum to the Fund.

    “Majority of those that are clamouring for the quick disbursement of the fund are those violating the law by not paying the appropriate amount they are expected to pay; yet, they think NIMASA will close its eyes and give the money to them, or be allowed to access the loan,” he said.

    The loan, the source added, would only be given to those that have contributed to it by paying the necessary fees as required by law.

  • Customs smashes a smuggling ring

    Customs smashes a smuggling ring

    The Customs has smashed a smuggling ring on the Agbara-Badagry Waterway, impounding 7,269 bags of rice.

    Area Controller, Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’, Comptroller Dan Ugo, said the seizure was made by a team led by two officers, Kirawa Abdullahi and Zarka Audu.

    The team was said to have been tipped off and it swung into action catching up with smugglers at Agbara.

    Ugo said: “What you see here is in furtherance to the wake-up call by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr. Abdullahi Dikko Inde, on zero tolerance for importation of rice through the land borders.

    “The unit will continue to collaborate with the Rice Importers Association of Nigeria and other critical stakeholders in ensuring that the unpatriotic attitudes of these “businessmen” are nipped in the bud.”

    Dikko, Ugo said, had directed officers and men of the service to work hard during the yuletide to stop smugglers.

    Also, the unit intercepted a truckload of 155 bags of parboiled rice and 95 kegs of 25 liters of vegetable oil on the Shaki-Igbokpe road in Oyo State.

    The controller said the seizure followed harmonisation of intelligence gathering by three teams in the unit.

    Ugo lauded the Customs management for providing the logistics and tools which aided the seizure.

    He also praised his officers for their dedication to duty.

    Investigation by The Nation, revealed that the upsurge in smuggling on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway made the Western Marines Command to place its officers and men on alert.