The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Congestion looms over arbitrary port charges

    Congestion is looming at the ports over arbitrary charges by shipping companies and terminal operators.
    Importers are worried that if the trend is not checked, it may kill business at the ports.

    The importers alleged that the charges do not conform with international standard.

    They blamed the concessioning of the port to private owners for the development.

    Investigation showed that some of the terminal operators collect between N4,000 and N5,000 on a container per day, while shipping companies charge as much as N8, 800 per day.

    The implication of the charges, importers said, is that if a container stays for 10 days at the port, they may be forced to pay as much as N200,000 to clear their goods.

    President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGGAF) Mr Eugene Nweke, said the arbitrary charges had become a recurrent decimal at the ports.

    Nweke said the seven per cent port levy being imposed on the shippers was meant for the concessionaires to put the port in shape.

    “Since the concession of the port about six years ago, shippers still pay the seven per cent port levy, which is an arbitrary charge,” he said.

    He said Terminal Handling Charges (THC) were supposed to be paid by the shipping companies to the terminal operators.

    “Terminal handling charges had been charged and paid by the carriers to the terminal operators, but the terminal operators still come back to collect the charges from the shippers,” he alleged.

    He said the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) had the mandate to publish charges and urged them to do so from time to time.

    Chairman, Shipping and Logistics Services Limited, Mr Johnson Adebayo alleged that there are formal and informal charges at the ports, adding that the informal charges are more than the formal charges.

    He said the single window system introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) may solve the arbitrary charges in the industry if other stakeholders at the ports key into the programme.

    Adebayo urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to find a lasting solution to the problem of arbitrary charges.

    National Co-ordinator of Save Nigerian Freight Forwarders Mr Chiazo Peter told The Nation that there was need for the NSC to operate independently, based on the law that established it.

    “NSC should be the voice of the sector, because they are the shippers. They have the right to regulate charges levied on import and export,” he said.

    A clearing agent, Mr Kayode Ogunsanu blamed the council for not carrying out its mandatory function on regulation of charges by the shipping companies.

    Ogunsanu said the terminal and shipping charges paid by importers did not conform with international standard.

    Executive Secretary, NSC, Capt. Adamu Biu, said the charges had become a problem in the sector, and that the council was studying it to come out with a recommendation to solve the problem.

    He said issues of shipping charges, terminal and container charges would be looked into.

  • Shippers, trawler owners cry out over piracy

    The Shippers Association of Lagos (SAL) has cried out over the rising insecurity on the waterways.

    The waterways, it said, had become a haven for robbery, urging the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to secure the terrain.

    SAL General Secretary Mr Jonathan Nicol said NIMASA must collaborate with the law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem.

    Nicol urged NIMASA to do more to secure goods and ships on waterways.

    “NIMASA should use helicopter regularly to checkmate these pirates and also seek the protection of the Navy, Customs and the police on the issue.

    “If the Federal Government fails to do this, it means we are going to lose so much revenue from that sector,” Nicol said.

    He said the loss of lives and rising attacks by armed robbers and pirates on Nigerian waters compared to other West African countries, was regrettable.
    “We have had quite a lot of complaints from fishermen that they were being raided by pirates, some have lost their lives and one of the two fishing companies has left Nigerian shores to Ghana.

    “Ghana is doing very fine; it has quite close to 100 fishing trawlers, operating within her territorial waters,” Nicol said.

    The Trawler Owners Association (NITOA) has suggested radar and satellite technology as part of the measures NIMASA should look into in finding a solution to the problem.

    The President of NITOA, Mr Joseph Overo, and the former president, Mrs Margaret Orakwusi, called on the National Assembly to urgently look at the Anti-Piracy Bill before it as many indigenous companies have been crippled and many children orphaned because sea pirates activities.

    A representative of the Directorate of Fisheries, Mrs Bola Kupolati, identified radar technology and effective information sharing as the solution to the incessant high-jacking and robbery of shipping trawlers and oil vessels.

    She lamented that trawler owners have been discouraged from reporting cases of attacks on their vessels because nothing has been done by NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy about the cases so far.

    The number of reported cases is not correct as many fishing companies have stopped reporting because of the attacks while many have been run out of business with the frequent attacks.

    “Nigeria’s food security is being affected; our foreign exchange is being affected because these activities lead to capital flight as more foreign vessels now do most of the jobs,” she said

    But NIMASA’s Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Hajia Lami Tumaka, said the agency was addressing the security challenges on the waterways.

    She said NIMASA was discussing with Nigcomsat Nigeria Limited for the integration of NIMASA into its satellite information to secure the waters.

    Hajia Tumaka added that the agency had initiated some interim measures to enhance security within and outside the nation’s territorial waters.

    She said the agency was working with security agencies such as the Air Force, Navy, Army and Police to ensure that the waterways are safe for freighting and fishing.

    Mrs Tumaka advised trawler owners to ensure that they pay adequate attention to the remuneration of their crew because many are badly paid, noting that poor pay usually leads them into criminal activities, such as selling their first catch at sea and subsequently drawing the attention of pirates.

  • ANLCA opposes CRFFN fee collection

    The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA) has condemned the approval given to the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) by the Minister of Transport to collect practising fees at the ports.It threatened to shut down the ports.

    Its president, Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, has resigned his membership of CRFFN to back his association’s demand.

    Speaking with The Nation in his office, Shittu said ANCLA opposed the collection of practising fees by the CRFFN because “it is inimical to the growth of the association and will render the association penniless.”

    The ANLCA chief said to show faith with his constituency, he has resigned his membership from the council.

    “I can not carry out this fight and remain in the council, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

    He said ANLCA had sent a letter to the CRFFN rejecting the offer by the council to give the association some amount yearly instead of giving it a percentage of the collected money.

    “We are not giving them any option. We will also write to the minister telling him of our own interpretation of transaction fees and why we object to it.

    “The fourth is that we shall go to court; we will take CRFFN to court and if the government goes ahead to enforce the dues collection we will shut down the ports,” Shittu said.

  • NEMA seeks wrecks removal

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has reiterated the need to remove wrecked ships from the Nigerian coastlines as a precautionary measure against maritime disaster.

    Its Director of Planning and Research and Forecasting, Dr Charles Agbo, gave the advice while inspecting the Kuramo Beach after the ocean surge in Lagos that claimed many lives.

    Agbo said the Federal Government was committed to preventing maritime disaster at all cost.

    According to him, the first step towards that is to ensure the removal of all wrecked ships from the coastal areas.

    The director said, “The Federal Government has ordered the removal of all wrecked ships in the Nigeria coastal area.

    “That order will be enforced to reduce ocean surge and we urge everyone to comply.”

    Agbo also said there were many wrecked ships on the coastline, especially at the Oniru Beach.

    “We are at the peak period of rainfall and anything that can cause disaster should be avoided.

    “There will be more assessment of the coastal areas from time to time, to stem the incidence of rising ocean tide,’’ he said.

    He advised all those involved in maritime activities to be very observant and careful to prevent further disaster.

  • Lift ban on rice, importers urge govt

    THE Federal Government has been urged to lift the ban on rice import through land borders in the interest of the masses.

    Spokesman of rice importers Mr Gbolahan Adetona described rice as one of the nation’s staples. He urged President Goodluck Jonathan to allow the group import the commodity through land borders this year.

    Adetona said the landing cost of rice through the seaports was expensive compared to what obtains in neighbouring countries.

    Another member of the group, Mrs Nosirat Odubela, said importers pay 20 per cent Customs duty and a 20 per cent levy, in compliance with government’s directive.

    The importers refuted claims that they were shortchanging the government by evading duty, saying they were ready to pay.

    “It is bad for those that have government’s ears to tag us that are doing legitimate business through the approved land borders and paying the necessary duty to Customs as smugglers. We are not smugglers, but importers and rice merchants.

    “We prefer to import through the neighbouring ports because we cannot compete with the local importers that use billions of naira to import the commodity.

    “Those who engage in smuggling are still in business.They have their routes and know how they convey their rice to the market,” Odubela said.

    Investigation by The Nation revealed that rice import through land borders has stopped and smuggling has reduced because of Customs surveillance.

    Some importers in Seme said the price of rice went up during the yuletide because of the importers’ interest.

  • ‘Protect waterways against illegal fishing’

    The Federal Government has been advised to protect the territorial waters and develop naval capability to deal with hazardous waste dumping and piracy.

    A member of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) Mr Seyi Adetula gave the advice during an interview with The Nation in Lagos.

    He said the country should 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 of the Federal Government to provide capability and cooperation with foreign partners to build its maritime capability.

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

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