The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Protect waterways against illegal fishing, govt urged

    The Federal Government has been advised to protect the nation’s territorial waters from illegal fishing and develop naval capability to deal with hazardous waste dumping and piracy.

    Some members of the Fishery Society of Nigeria (FISON), gave the advice while speaking with The Nation in Apapa, Lagos.

    A member of the group, Mr Tolani Adegboyega, said the country needs to work with foreign partners to develop the capacity that could help it in tackling the crisis caused by piracy and illegal fishing.

    He said the dumping of toxic waste in the maritime domain and the increasing crimes in the coastline require commitment on the side of the Federal Government to provide capability and cooperation with foreign partners to build its maritime capability.

    Adegboyega pointed out that security experts around the Horn of Africa have developed theories over the increasing piracy cases.

    He noted that Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had set the stage for cooperation between states, both in information exchange and mobilisation of resources.

  • More court cases awaits CRFFN

    Following the plans by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to arrest anybody engaged in the business of freight forwarding in Nigeria who fail to register with the body before the second week of April, a legal expert and legal adviser to a maritime stakeholders’ group, the ‘Save Nigeria group’, a coalition of importers, exporters, maritime lawyers and others (SNFFIEC), Barrister Osuala Nwagbara and the Secretary -General of the group, Mr Chukwumalu Emeka have said that the council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) does not have any right to arrest and or prosecute any practitioner as long as that person has been registered by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and his license has not expired nor cancelled. If they dare, then more court cases await them, they warn.

    Osuala said “CRFFN does not have the right to arrest anybody who is not a registered member of that body. According to Osuala, the status that set up CRFFN defined a freight forwarder as somebody who must necessarily handle goods for the importer across international boundaries”. By that definition, even transporters who put their trucks on the road from Cotonu to Lagos is a freight forwarder. Anybody who is licensed by Customs is free to practice as a licensed Customs Agent in any port within the country without necessarily registering with the CRFFN as a freight forwarder, therefore if CRFFN goes ahead to attempt to harass anybody for not registering with them, such a person have the legal right to take them to court and seek redress. Osuala said that.

    The Customs License supersedes registration with CRFFN because very one who must be registered with CRFFN must first be registered with Customs with Customs without which he cannot be registered with CRFFN. With Customs license, one who does not want to go into freight forwarding activities across internationally boundaries can confine himself to operations within the country as a Customs Agents. Such does not necessarily need to register with CRFFN and any attempt by CRFFN to molest anybody practicing as a Customs Agent will result to court cases.

    While the NCS licensed people as ‘Clearing Agents, to clear goods within the country, the CRFFN registration has to do with those who handles goods for importers across international boundaries either from the seaports, Airport or land border point of view, from across the globe, Osuala said. CRFFN does not have the power to arrest anybody for being in the port as a Clearing Agent simply because that person did not register with them.

  • Shippers’ Council bemoans foreign domination

    Shippers’ Council bemoans foreign domination

    WORRIED by the dependence on foreign shippers to carry the nation’s cargo, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has asked the Federal Government to arrest the situation.
    He blamed the incessant and arbitrary increase on charges on foreign shippers, saying with the concession of seaport terminals, the situation had become worse.
    The council decried the unnecessary delay in clearing cargoes. It urged government to tackle the problem.
    The NSC Executive Secretary, Capt Adamu Biu, sought the enactment of legislations that would empower the council.
    Biu also lamented the inadequate funding of the council.
    He bemoaned the absence of a commercial regulator at the seaports. Biu asked the Federal Government to create regulators that would stem arbitrary charges and see to the rapid growth of the industry.
    He said more than 75 per cent of Nigeria’s trade depends on imports and as such rely on foreign shippers. He urged the National Assembly to upgrade the council to a regulator to curb arbitrary increase on charges at the ports.
    The charges, he claimed, are increased by terminal operators without consultation.
    He said: “In 1978, when the NSC was established, we had a national shipping line, which was lifting as much as one third of our trade.
    “Without a national shipping line today, Nigeria is 100 per cent dependent on foreign shippers and they are not charity organisations, but are in business to make profits. The scenario has worsened since we concessioned our terminals. It is more than 90 per cent foreign-dominated.
    “Frankly speaking, we are being funded illegally, because, as it is today, there is no law that specifies how much we are being funded—that’s the truth and that one per cent is determined by the Nigerian Customs. If we are properly funded, we could do a lot more than we are doing today,” Biu said.
    Some of the ways the council facilitates trade, Biu adedd, are the provision of shipping information, legal and financial assistance to shippers, handling of shippers’ complaints on cargo losses, demurrage charges, insurance claims and the domestication of relevant international conventions for the carriage of goods.
    Besides, the council also has other problems.“Some of these challenges include lack of sanctioning powers in the Council’s enabling Act, non-compliance with rules by service providers, unethical attitude of some agencies, a situation which create problems and delays in cargo clearance at our ports, shippers’ ignorance of their rights, which lead some of them into illegal activities.
    “The foregoing issues make our international trade uncompetitive. We need the collective will of stakeholders to do things right so that we can achieve better results,” Biu said.
    The shippers’ scribe said trade facilitation was not only for the NSC, but for industry players.

  • ‘Why night cargo clearance is not working’

    ‘Why night cargo clearance is not working’

    Despite the efforts of the Federal Government to facilitate trade at the ports by introducing 24-hour port operation, night cargo clearance at port is yet to work as planned, investigation has revealed.

    Poor power supply, unstable data processing system and insecurity are some of the major factors responsible for the inability of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to clear goods in the night.

    The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar and the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have been urged to address the issue to curb cargo diversion.

    Investigation revealed while work at the Tin Can Island Ports in the day has been epileptic due to the server failure, at night, work is paralysed by poor power supply. As as a result, the Customs relies on generator to power some of their offices while some use rechargeable lamps.

    Investigation also revealed that many clearing agents were not in their duty posts at the time of the visit to the ports by The Nation last Saturday because they had no hope that their goods would be cleared on time.

    A senior Customs officer, who craved anonymity, said there must be constant power supply if the government wants to achieve its objectives on the 24-hour cargo clearance.

    The officer said most of the time, clearing agents, importers and releasing and officials of the shipping companies, were on ground to perform their duty at night, adding that their absence has stalled operations in recent times.

    Also, an importer, Mr Leke Ayeni, said the refusal of customs officials to discharge their duties promptly has affected the clearing of goods at night.

    Ayeni said the development makes it difficult for importers and agents to do the necessary documen-tations at the ports.

    According to him, officials are unable to access necessary data due to poor network system. He listed other problems to include poor power supply, and fear of attack by men of the underworld.

    He urged the Federal Government to look at the issue and further take appropriate actions.

    Also, an importer and maritime lawyer, Mr Felix Aborisade, queried the ports authority for not putting in place measures that would bring about 24-hour cargo clearance in the ports.

    “For the policy on 24-hour cargo clearance to succeed, the government needs to assure the agents of their safety when they want to collect their goods in the night. When the cleared goods are not safe during the day, is it the night that such goods would be safe?” he asked.

    Last year, the government had introduced the 24-hour clearance to decongest the ports, ensure trade facilitation, and bring the nation’s ports operations in line with the global trend.

  • NIMASA arrests pirates

    The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, said the agency has averted another ship hijack and arrested 15 suspected pirates with arms and ammunition.

    Speaking with The Nation in his office last week, the NIMASA chief said the hijack was planned to have taken place off the coast of Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, adding that the agency’s vigilance led to its foiling the arrest of the suspects.

    He lamented the release of suspected pirtaes. He said: “The continuous release of suspected pirates is frustrating our fight against pirate attack on vessels.”

    Akpobolokemi said the extension of its anti-piracy operation to Benin Republic was based on the request of the President of Benin Republic to the Nigerian government, the agency. As a result, President Goodluck Jonathan directed the agency to extend its operation to Benin waters.

    He said the operations of NIMASA had assisted in curbing the menace of piracy and armed robbery at sea and border-related vices within the Benin Republic waters and its neighbouring countries of Nigeria – Togo and Ghana.

    On the release of arrested pirates, Akpobolokemi said each time these suspects were arrested and handed over to the prosecuting agencies, they soon got themselves off the hook.

    Akpobolokemi said some suspected pirates have been arrested more than twice, thereby making rendering useless the agency’s moves to reduce or eliminate the menace of pirates on the nation’s waters.

    He said NIMASA can only make arrest and hand over to the Police or State Security Service (SSS) or any other prosecuting agency.

    He, however, sought the support of other agencies involved in the prosecution of suspects to stamp out piracy from Nigeria and, possibly, the West African coast.

    Specifically, he warmed that if piracy is not tackled to its logical conclusion, it would lead to high cost of freight of cargoes, thereby bringing an increase in the cost of goods and services.

    The agency boss also said in the last the nine months, NIMASA had arrested vessels involved in illegal ship to ship transfer of products, unauthorised midstream discharge, illegal bunkering and outright oil theft.

    He explained that since NIMASA started the war against piracy, there had been a steady decline.

  • NPA to make ports Africa’s hub

    The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mallam Habib Abdulahi, has reiterated the organisation’s determination to make some of the nation’s seaports the hub of maritime, not only in the sub-region and Africa.

    Speaking on the potential of the nation’s seaports, such as improved infrastructural development and the huge market, Abdulahi said the nation’s seaports can serve as hub in the continent.

    He told The Nation that in a report recently, Lagos and Cape Town were ranked as some of most innovative cities by two international bodies, Citigroup and Urban Land Institute of the United States for their economic potential and the former for accounting for 80 per cent of the country’s seaport activities “ranked .

    According to him, the management of NPA is making efforts to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the nation’s seaports.

    The NPA boss explained that not only are the channels of the seaports navigable with regular maintenance dredging, all wrecks along the channels have been removed to facilitate the smooth navigation in and out of the channels.

    He cited some projects embarked upon or completed by the NPA management to enhance operations generally in the nation’s seaports.

  • NNSL ex-workers protest non-payment of entitlements

    Almost 17 years after the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) was liquidated by the Federal Government, ex- members of staff of the national carrier have stormed the Federal Ministry of Transport, Abuja, to protest the non-payment of their entitlements.

    The aggrieved ex- employees carried placards with different messages, such as: “We cannot continue like this”; “Some of our dead are still in the mortuary”; “Our children are out of school”; and “Many of us have no roof over our heads” to the ministry to demand for payment of their entitlements.

    The protesters said some them are widows and widowers. One of them, Mr Oluremi Adetunji, who spoke with The Nation, said a top shot in the ministry had, after the verification of their documents, directed them to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA) to collect their entitlements, adding that, despite the directive, they had not been paid.

    He said it was the responsibility of the ministry to direct NIMASA to pay them.

    “Maybe the government wants us to die before paying our money; that is why we went to the ministry so that Nigerians will know the problem we are facing before our sudden death.”

    A senior official of the ministry who does not want his name in print said the ministry had met with the protesters and that some agreements had been reached to solve the problem.

  • Bureau gets nod to certify vessels

    The former Chairman, Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture Division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Akin Olaniyan, has said the International Naval Surveys Bureau (INSB) has been authorised by the Maritime Administration of Moldova – Public Institution Harbour Master Giurgiulesti – to certify vessels flying the Moldavian flag.

    This, according to him, is to expand the authorisation of INSB and provide it with the ability to serve ship owners, managers or operators whose fleet is registered or intended to be registered under the Moldavian flag.

  • NPA seeks compliance with security checks

    The Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) has urged stakeholders to comply with the security measures at the entry gates of the ports in Lagos.

    Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting at the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service in Lagos, NPA’sAssistant General Manager, Security, Mr Samuel Asamagie, who represented the Port Manager, Mr Joshua Ashanga, urged port users to comply with the checks at the ports.

    He said some of challenges at the ports resulted from the human traffic so, emphasis would placed on checking port users at the gate before they enter the port.

    He said security at the gate would be fortified, adding that such measure could lead to 80 per cent reduction of the challenges faced at the ports.

    He stressed that there would be checks at the gate of Tin Can Island Port and the Lagos Port Complex and called on stakeholders to submit themselves to the checks.

    ‘’If we all expose ourselves to checks at the access gates , I can assure us that it will eliminate a lot of problems at the ports in Lagos. It may create a lot of inconvenience, but I want to say that it is better to suffer a little inconvenience than suffer the consequences that will follow,” Ashanga said.

    According to him, the NPA has put in place measures to address stowaways and attacks on vessels, which, he said, pose security challenges at the ports.

     

  • ANLCA threatens terminal operators

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has threatened to shut the seaports, unless terminal operators resolved the alleged increase in some charges on imported goods.

    The decision to close the ports was reached at a meeting of ANLCA’s trustees, national executives as well as chairmen and secretaries of chapters in the Western zone, last week.

    Ii was gathered that the association agreed that a four-member committee, comprising the secretary of the Board of Trustees; Prince Taiye Oyeniyi, Apapa Chapter Chairman; Comrade John Ofobike, Chairman, Tin Can Chapter; Mr Kayode Farinto Collins and secretary of the association’s Presidential Compliance Committee; Chief Isdore Martins Agoha was constituted to interface with the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN).

    The group, sources said, was mandated to write to the chairman of STOAN to resolve the issue or face its wrath.