Category: Maritime

The Nigerian Shippers Council is championing the provision of the scanners at the ports to boost efficiency, writes OLUWAKEMI DAUDA .

To the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) Mr Hassan Bello,  deployment of scanners at the seaports would boost efficiency, reduce the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic and uphold social and physical distancing.

Thus, after the lockdown, the  NCS chief said,  the Council and other government agencies would ensure installation of scanners to reduce contacts and the time spent on the clearance of over 1.5 million containers at the ports yearly, it was learnt.

The seaports and land borders have been without scanners for many years,  thereby exposing the country to danger, sub-standard products and unregulated drugs imports.

“While we want the port to work for us to get medicine, food, raw materials for our factories and other essential cargoes, the uppermost concern is our health. Therefore, we can not compromise the health of port workers. It is better for us not to open the port for us to have transmission of this coronavirus pandemic.

“Our main concern is to contain and prevent the spread of the virus and we have to operate within that line. But overall, we have been trying to maintain that line. Within that limitation the port has been open and moving smoothly

“If we have scanners people will not be gathering, social distancing would not even be a thing in the port. But we are working with the Customs. Customs are ready to deploy scanners. Customs is also leading in e-Customs. The e-Customs thing have solve a lot of problems in the port. But one thing is that we have to come together and guarantee everybody that our ports must be e-ports. There must be real authomation we have been calling for,” Bello said.

Nothing to cheer because of agents

Findings revealed that there is nothing to cheer for importers and exporters at the Lagos ports, where about 80 per cent of the maritime trade occurs and other ports across the country.

The infrastructure is shabby. Cargo clearance is frustrating as it is being done being by human agents.

A maritime lawyer and University Don, Dr Dipi Alaka, said some consignments left the port undetected because of the non-availability of scanners.

According to him, “busy ports like Apapa and Tin Can, need four scanners each, but  they have no scanners.”

Investigations revealed that the only scanner at Apapa port works for few hours and is given many hours to cool off before it is put back to work.

Lack of functioning scanners has made the ports stressful place to do business.

There is no doubt that the country lacks the required scanners and security instruments for easier examination of cargoes and detection of dangerous goods.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in 2013 inherited about $120 million scanners from Cotecna, SGS Scanning Nigeria Limited and Global Scan Systems Nigeria Limited, the former service providers.

These scanners prior were not in good working condition; rather, they continued to rot away.

Virtually, all inherited scanners had broken down, thereby making cargos to be examined physically.

Prior to the termination of the contract of the service providers, in 2013, Cotecna, which operated at the Apapa premier port claimed to have handed over $70 million worth of scanners in good condition to the Apapa Customs Command.

The machines, findings revealed, were installed at various Customs locations, such as Tin Can Island Port, Port Harcourt Area One Command, Onne Port, Seme and Idi-Iroko borders.

But as at 2017, the various Customs locations were littered with non-functioning scanners.

But hope were raised last week when Bello said the government agencies were collaborating to ensure that some cargo scanners are delivered at the ports after the lockdown.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, had assured that the proposals had been submitted to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), assuring that the all-important facility would be delivered in “few months”.

It was learnt that Customs was making moves to acquire scanners, but the procurement has not been completed.

The decision to replace the scanners followed the collapse of scanners in the ports, which were transferred to the Nigeria Customs Service in 2014/2015, thereby resulting in physical/manual inspection, prolonged cargo delays, and the payment of rent and demurrage by importer/licensed Customs agents and attendant serious security threats.

Indeed, NCS has dumped the multi-million dollar inspection machines, and has returned to 100 per cent manual examination of goods.

Containers spend weeks at the seaports over delayed clearance, such that containers that were supposed to be cleared in few days spend about 22 days or more.

Implications on non-functioning scanners

The implication is that the NCS and other security agencies are now compelled to work harder if they must achieve desired goals.

They now have to unstuffed consignments, and do what is called 100 per cent physical examination.  This process is very slow; it is time consuming, and it is stressful.

According to the Vice President Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ( ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto“We are presently in a regime that I will call physical examination where all containers are opened. All containers are checked because the scanners are not functioning. This is cumbersome and slow. It is also imperfect.”

Two years after its inauguration, the Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP) has remained under-uitilised. If put to maximum use, the facility may facilitate a turnaround of the economy, especially during post-Covid-19, MUYIWA LUCAS writes.

OPTIMISM greeted the inauguration of the Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP) by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 4, 2018 for two reasons:  It is the first dry port in the country and it portrays a bright future for inland dry ports in the sector.

Such facilities, if encouraged, would further expand the market as a port of origin and port of destination for maritime business in the north.

But feelers from the north, which is home to the KIDP, gives cause for worry. Challenges of cargoes rail movement, global recognition and shipping firms’designation of the facility as a port of final destination, have ensured that the dry port has remained in partial operation.

For instance, findings by The Nation revealed that KIDP is operating at less than two percent of its monthly throughput.

Besides, a major source of worry for the facility is the lack of support from shipping firms for it in their documents by issuance of Bill of Laden (TBL), movement of cargoes by road and low patronage by some northern states.

The shipping lines, it was gathered, do not recognise dry ports as a port of destination, making it difficult for them to flourish. For instance, dry port logistics operation is done from a port of loading to that of destination, that is, KIDP, while Lagos seaports/terminals – Tin Can Island Port or Onne Port in Port Harcourt – is port of discharge.

“These challenges, and others, have not been enabling us to commence full operations as a dry port. The Nigerian Shipper’s Council (NSC) is trying its best and these challenges would have been overcome if other stakeholders cooperated and  supported the objectives of dry ports in Nigeria.

For example, last year, we (KIDP) moved about 120 20-feet equivalent units (TEUs) within three months before the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) stopped operation into the facility due to the ongoing rail line construction going in the Iju-Apapa axis in Lagos.

We operate under customs bond status moving cargoes on trucks by road, which is expensive and involves several documentation with various customs units for processing/clearances coupled with other agencies clearance before leaving the ports of discharge,” the General Manager, KIDP, Rotimi Raimi-Hassan, told The Nation at the weekend.

He urged the NRC to recognise the importance of rail haulage in the movement of cargoes to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port.

“The situation calls for a lot of improvement on the side of NRC. There are not enough wagons and locomotives that will haul containers here and meet up our demands,” he said.

Stakeholders in the industry explained that in an ideal situation of dry port logistics, rail service is a major mode of transport from the seaport serving as a connecting link to dry port terminal, mass evacuation from the mother port with immediate transfer to dry port. Sadly, that has remained a tall dream in Nigeria.

Patronage

While the Inland Dry Ports regulator NSC is said to be exploring ways of ameliorating these challenges, Raimi-Hassan argued that there was the need for increased patronage of the facility by all the northern states to maximise  the benefits of the port facility.

According to him, only three Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are taking advantage of the port. “The Kaduna State government has done her bit as the host state by providing water, electricity, access road and support to KIDP.

I want to emphasise that the Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, has been a strong supporter of the dry port project. Aside other roads he constucted leading to the dry port, there is an ongoing dual carriage road that is over 70 percent completed he is working on which will further boost our operations,” Raimi-Hassan added.

The stakeholders contended that the support for KIDP by the state government might not be unconnected with the port’s multiplier effect on Kaduna.

He listed these to include the creation of employment, encouraging the development of other businesses related to port activities; bringing shipping services to doorstep of shippers in Northern Nigeria; increases revenue generation to state and Federal governments, enhanced localisation of industries in the northern states, in particular Kaduna state, increased socio economic activities in Kaduna state and neighbouring states, among others.

Boost

While the dry port was established to cater for states in the northern region, it was gathered that patronage for the facility has come mostly from Kaduna, Kano, Fedral Capital Territory(FCT), Niger are the few states that are patronising Kaduna dry port for now.

The KIDP recorded a slight increase in cargo throughput in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period of last year, with the container throughput to the facility rising above 1, 000 TEUs compared to about 700 TEUs recorded between January and March, last year, it is still a far cry from its daily capacity of 4, 000 TEUs.

It has created about 400 jobs have been created for now for indirect and direct jobs, but at full capacity when the dry port commences 100 percent operations, it can accommodate and sustain more than five thousand 5,000 jobs.

To boost the operations, KIDP said it had engaged in seminars, electronic advert, personal contacts but the required complementary services support from other stakeholders like Shipping companies, NRC, seaport/terminal operators, NPA, appointment of pre-inspection agent etc. are not there for the facility to forge ahead.

Raimi-Hassan further said  in the second year, following the commencement of its operations, there was an improvement in export of goods  from KIDP, as the facility processed about 2,378.24 metric tons last year.

These export commodities, he said, include ginger, cow horn, hibiscus flowers, solid minerals – manganese, zinc ore etc. “We had 2,017 metric tons of manganese solid, minerals exported from Kaduna inland dry port last year,” he said.

The KDIP is linked with the Nigeria Customs Information System (NICIS II)  and in tune with customs modernisation. It has the complement of customs presence.

Other port security and regulatory agencies are also involved in the process as obtainable in the mainstream seaports across the country.

Some agencies at the ports have rolled out some palliatives for port users, Oluwakemi Dauda looks at how the palliatives are being administered.

TOUCHED by the problems caused the economy by the ravaging coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government gave some reliefs to some sectors of the economy, including maritime.

These include suspension of payment of demurage and storage charges.

Storage and demurrage

When a container is discharged from a ship, it is moved to the Container Yard (CY) area of the port. This is  where containers are stored before  they are loaded on the ship in the case of exports or offloaded from the ship in the case of imports.

When the customer has cleared with Customs and is ready to take the container, he/she will move the container from the CY.

No port can store  many containers at the CY area. It is essential that the importers clear the cargo within the “free period” offered by the port. However, there are cases where the consignee may be unable to take delivery due to documentary, financial or the Coronavirus pandemic.

In such cases, the containers will be stuck in the yard space,  causing berth and port congestion. To discourage this, the port authorities will surcharge a container that has not been moved out within the specified free time.This is called port storage.

Also, when there is delayed clearance, the shipping line  charges demurrage, a levy on the consignee if the container is not cleared and returned to the empty depot within the specified free days offered by the line.

It is possible that a container can incur both demurrage and storage on the same shipment, if the agencies of government fail to take the steps.

Ports suffering from poor and inefficient service

A maritime lawyer Mr Sunday Adebayo said despite being the leaders in the region through sheer market size and the options they bring, the seaports continue to suffer from poor and inefficient service delivery to its customers.

He said: “Many importers and clearing agents are paying through their nose to clear their goods from the Lagos ports despite that the world economy is going through a very sorry period because of the pandemic

“Based on the outbreak of  pandemic and the decision of the Federal Government to keep the Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa and the Tin-Can Island port open, the terminal operators and the shipping companies are using the opportunity to impose storage and demurrage charges on cargoes coming to the sea ports and smilling to the bank at the detriment of the people, the nation and its economy.’’

NPA and NSC to the rescue

To reverse the situation, the  Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) last week,  brought succour to importers, clearing agents and other port users.

This came following the outcry by clearing agents that terminal operators and shipping firms have refused to comply with demurrage and storage waivers imposed by the NPA and the NSC.

NPA, in a second letter to the terminal operators last week, defined the terms of reference on port charges that need to be waived and given as palliatives for importers and clearing agents.

It directed terminal operators in Lagos to extend the suspension of terminal storage fees otherwise known as demurrage on consignments for another 14 days from April 13.

Its General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications Mr Jatto Adams, who made known this at the weekend said this follows the extension of the lockdown in response to the COVID-19 outbreak by President Muham-madu Buhari on April 12.

Jatto said the gesture was in recognition of the pressure of the pandemic on businesses as well as attaining the objectives of the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy during this period.

He said: “The authority states that compensation to terminal operators will be as spelt out in its April 8, letter to the terminal operators.”

The memo was signed by the NPA’s General Manager, Ugo Madubuike for the NPA Managing Director.

The NPA stated that it would  grant terminal operators Credit Notes, commensurate with the  reliefs the operators give to consignees.

“Further to our letter dated 2nd of April, 2020, directing the suspension of rent charges on consignments for an initial period of 21 days and effective from 23rd March, 2020, kindly be informed that to relieve you of the effects of the loss of rental charges due to Covid-19 pandemic, the Authority will grant Credit Notes commensurate to the rental reliefs granted by you to consignees within the period in reference.

“Kindly note that the compensation will be guided by the following terms: the compensation will only cover cargoes situated in your terminal within the period under reference; the terminal must produce evidence of delivery records indicating waiver of rent for the period in reference; the compensation shall only cover storable cargo within respective terminals; and the compensation shall only cover charges approved by the Authority and published by the terminal. Any charge outside these will not be accommodated,”  Madubuike said.

Jatto, however, told The Nation that the NPA would not tolerate any non-compliance with directive and not hesitate to apply the appropriate sanctions.

NPA had, on March 27, directed terminal operators to suspend the collection of terminal storage fees for an initial 14 days from March 23  to cushion the effect of the Covid-19 lockdown on its customers.

The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, has also directed shipping lines to suspend demurrage till the end of the lockdown.

Bello, who spoke in Lagos, reminded the firms that this was part of the incentives given to importers and exporters during the lockdown by the Federal Government and warned that any firm that flaunts the directive by imposing demurrage charges on shippers risk severe sanctions.

According to him, in line with the presidential directive that port operations are essential services, the council has been monitoring activities to ensure that seaports run efficiently and smoothly within this period, and in compliance with the existing health and safety guidelines for the prevention and containment of the spread of COVID-19.