Category: Maritime

The Customs Area Controller of Area II Command, Onne Port Rivers State, Comptroller Aliyu Saidu, has charged newly promoted officers in the command to justify their elevations with honesty and hard work. Saidu, who gave this charge while decorating newly promoted officers in his Command with their new ranks, said promotions are clarion calls to higher responsibilities.

“From this moment you should also see yourselves as role models to your subordinates, leading by example and keeping to directives as contained in the Customs and Excise Management Act including other books of instruction.

“The Controller General and Nigeria demands more dedication to duty from us and the motivation of promotion should spur us to do more while also encouraging our stakeholders to be compliant at all times, “ Saidu said at the brief decoration ceremony.

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For those that are yet to be promoted, the Controller urged them to be unrelenting in steadfastness as other opportunities for promotion will come their way. “I am optimistic we will have to come together and celebrate again because some other officers will also be promoted.

Continuing, he stressed that ‘’with the calibre of officers here the revenue target and goals of 2019, should be achieved in a few weeks. Don’t wait till the end of the year,” he charged his men.

Responding on behalf of the newly promoted officers, Deputy Comptroller Timinadi Bomodi, expressed happiness for the honour done them while promising the Nigerian Customs Service especially the Comptroller General of Customs Col. Hammed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) of their unalloyed commitment and to match expectations with hard work.

It would be recalled that Nigerian Customs Service recently announced promotion of officers, including one Deputy Comptroller General of Customs , three Assistant Comptrollers General of Customs and the promotion of 2,508 officers to various ranks. Nineteen of these promotions were at the Customs Area II Command Onne.

By Jane Chijioke

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) in partnership with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has stressed the need for investments in truck transit parks (TTP) to curb accidents and gridlock. Truck transit park, a public rest area for drivers off the highways, serves as a short-term safety break and longer term parking lot on high-use roads corridors.

The agencies spoke at a sensitisation programme with  the theme: Truck transit parks: a panacea for crash-free haulage operations in Nigeria.

NSC’s Executive Secretary, Mr. Hassan Bello, said tanker road accidents has been linked to drivers’ fatigue because most of the drivers do not have enough rest before embarking on journeys. “It has been discovered that the main problems drivers complain about is 39 percent fatigue related while main causes of road crashes is 41 per cent related. This is because most drivers sleep for just about four hours in every 24 hours. This underscores the fact that safe and clean truck stops are needed,” he said.

He said the programme was part of the achievements of the Memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both agencies in 2017 to engage in collaborative enlightenment  programmes for truck owners, drivers and the general public, adding that NSC and FRSC would ensure smooth movement of goods facilitated through the use of truck transit parks.

Bello, who was represented by the Director of Special Duties, Mr. Samuel Vontua, noted that under the NSC’s TTP project, some locations have been identified for the establishment of the parks. Such areas include; Porto Novo Creek, Lagos State; Ogere, Ogun State; Onitsha, Anambra State; Mararaban Jos, Kaduna State;  Jebba, Kwara State; Lokoja, Kogi State; Ore, Ondo State.

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Also, Zonal Commanding Officer FRSC 2, in charge of Lagos and Ogun State, Mr Samuel Obayemi, reiterated that road accidents especially those involved in haulage services are caused by fatigue; hence, the programme was part of ways to bring sanity on the roads.  He said the establishment of TTP parks would not only enable drivers have enough rest but also assist them to get to their destinations in good time. He added that the agency would also ensure compliance with the use of these parks and have its members designated at every farm tanks to checkmate trucks and trailers that are not road worthy.

Also speaking, Assistant Corps Marshal, FRSC, Victor Nwokolo, noted that truck traffic requires urgent multifaceted approaches, ranging  from policy, technology and investment perspectives   to curtail  the increasing trends of truck’s single and multiple road crashes.

He said since 2007-2018, the country has recorded 11,720 deaths and 38,832 persons injured. He heaped the blame of this statistics on tankers and trailers driver.

“The truck transit scheme is key towards improving road safety and security of cargo. Statistics shows that the country has recorded several cases of road traffic crashes involving tankers/trailers from haulage business with causes ranging from driver’s fatigue, over speeding and drinking while driving,” he said.

Nwokolo added that the establishment of truck transit parks will promote road safety and security of cargoes and haulage vehicles while in transit reduce pilferage and theft of cargoes, free from harassment, delay and deviation into another territory, among others.

By Muyiwa Lucas

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on operational efficiency in line with the desire to deepen the relationship between the two ports.

The MoU is expected to boost businesses and strengthen bilateral relations between the two outfits.

Speaking to stakeholders at the  NPA head office, the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, NPA, Dr. Sokonte Davies, said aside a boost in efficiency through expertise, development and digitalisation, the MoU would ensure simultaneous growth with new skills being acquired and new trends opened.

Davies represented NPA Managing Director Hadiza Bala-Usman.

The agreement which will last for five years, effective from November 27, will broaden technical skills and practical knowledge. The MoU covers areas like infrastructure, stimulation of trade growth as well as concretising the enabling environment for the tenents of Public Private Partnership (PPP) to thrive amongst the two ports.

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The Antwerp delegation, led by Port of Antwerp President Annick De Rider, was optimistic of a greater future for the NPA as it makes progress in its concession regime; a factor he said influenced the MoU.

“West Africa takes a large share in the traffic of Port of Antwerp. It is, therefore, our ambition to further strengthen our position in West Africa. We aim to pass our know-how and experience to all. We hope that this mission will create new fruitful contacts, new connections and new business opportunities in order to ensure future growth for years to come,” De Rider said.

He explained that the ports of Antwerp is the second largest Port in Europe that aims for flexibility, response to a rapidly evolving Maritime Market, which has enabled the Port to continue playing roles in cooperation, adaptability and focusing greatly on digitalisation.

The Chairman, Board of Directors of the NPA, Emmanuel Adesoye, said the industry expectation was that the two organisations would leverage each other’s expertise for growth in trade, which would result in global economic development for the two nations.

By Muyiwa Lucas

The Secretary General of Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Alain Michel Luvam-bano, has advocated stronger collaboration of navies and coast guards in Africa to harness the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

Luvambano, who commended the Nigerian government for being the first to come up with an anti piracy law on the continent, said fighting piracy and sea robbery in Africa would promote trade in line with the spirit of AfCFTA.

According to him, if navies share information and apply relevant technologies, criminals and criminality will be curbed. He added that cost of insurance may likely reduce and ship owners’ security concerns on African waters with attendant cost implications would be largely addressed, if this is achieved.

He said: “We in MOWCA have read the AfCFTA agreement and seen that not much was said about maritime, whereas that is where the highest volume of trade happens in Africa and the world. If fear of likely attacks on vessels in some parts of our waters is addressed, this will boost more trade, reduce cost of insurance and improve wealth for African citizens. This is one reason why we have put some things in place for closer monitoring of developments on African waters that sees what goes on in 25 countries. I created the Centre for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM), back in 2014.”

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He said information obtained from the CINFOCOM centre confirmed that a lot were being achieved by maritime administrations in Africa, and the improvements are very commendable. Besides, he said the centre also served as an observatory unit that contributes to MOWCA’s interface with various maritime administrations and countries through their focal points.

Luvambano further said as a matter of policy, MOWCA had priorotised employing youths  knowledgeable in ICT to be at the CINFOCOM desk. This is to make the younger ones to understudy operations with a view to preparing them for eventual take off of the orgainsation’s affairs in the nearest future.

“We are also concerned about preparing our maritime manpower base through training and retraining of our youths in our academies in Côte D’Ivore and the Regional Maritime University in Ghana. I must commend the signing of an anti piracy law by Nigerian government. This is the first in Africa and worthy of emulation. We participated and saw the outcome of a Global Maritime Security Conference held in Nigeria,” he said, while urging all member countries and organisations to pursue full implementation of resolutions reached at the high powered event not only for the good of trade among Africans but also for benefit of organisations and countries doing business across African waters.

To further deepen the influence of MOWCA, talks have begun among Francophone member countries to upgrade its Abidjan based Regional Maritime Academy (RMA) for Sciences and Technologies of the Sea to a maritime university.

The decision for the upgrade came up at a recent 12th Board of Governors’ meeting held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. RMA is the specialised organ of MOWCA in charge of training of seafarers and land based staff of the shipping industry for the 15 Francophone member countries. This initiative is to bring the Abidjan RMA to the same level as the sister training institution for Anglophone member countries- Regional Maritime University, Accra, Ghana.

It was also agreed that a consultant will be appointed by the Management of RMA to conduct a broad study on sea training of cadets on board vessels sailing in the Gulf of Guinea.

The increasing cost of maritime operations, especially as it affects freight forwarders and transporters, among others, may have set the tone for a showdown between shipping firms and terminal operators, MUYIWA LUCAS reports

One by one, they trickled into the expansive hall; and, within minutes, the venue was filled with diverse people and interest groups, who gathered in one accord to discuss their common problem.

For long, freight forwarders, transporters, importers and others doing business in the maritime industry have been subjected to various hardship. From the pains of demurrage, either directly caused by them or inflicted by circumstances beyond their control, to the cost of transporting their consignments in and out of the port, not forgetting the parlous state of port roads, it has been tales of woes.

It was therefore instructive when, at a recent gathering, an industry group, under the aegis of Concerned Freight Forwarders and Transporters (CRFT), issued a notice of action to shipping firms and terminal operators, demanding for the immediate stoppage of demurrages and arbitrary charges imposed on their consignments.

The CRFT, while ruing the increase in the cost of cargo clearance, said such actions, especially as being taken by terminal operators and their sister shipping companies, were sabotaging the reforms in the sector.

Its Chairmanp, Mr. Andy Omenogo, said as major players and stakeholders in the shipping, freight forwarding and transportation  sub-sector the industry, they came together to speak with one voice on behalf of their various clients because they were being adversely affected by arbitrary trade practices of shipping companies  and terminal operators.

“The unfortunate practice that has been forced down our client’s throat on a daily basis is that after completion of all clearing formalities and issuance of Terminal Delivery Order (TDO), they proceed to load and take delivery of their cargo only for them and their colleagues to be unable to enter the terminal and load because of contrived congestion in the terminal or lack of space or inability of our designated truck to gain access into the terminal to load which is absolutely no fault of theirs,” Omenogo said.

He regretted that while this scenario could last for several days or weeks, and the clients battle to access and load their cargo /containers, terminal operators and shipping companies keep charging demurrage for a delay not caused by clients but by terminal operators who fail to make their terminal accessible and shipping companies who, he alleged, have failed to provide adequate holding bays for empty containers, thus worsening the situation.

“It is also saddening to note that when our clients eventually take delivery and return the empty container(s), the shipping companies will refuse to receive them on account of lack of space and for as long as our clients find it impossible to drop the empty container(s), the shipping companies and terminals will continue to unconscionably charge them demurrage.  There is no justification for these continuing demurrage charges and our clients demand an immediate end to it.’’

Omenogo, on behalf of the group, therefore said going forward every shipping company must comply with the relevant laws as put in place by the governing bodies. By this, he demanded that shipping companies must refund container deposits within maximum four days after return of empty containers, and the refund must be made in full except in proven cases where the container was damaged while in the custody of the freight forwarder/importer. Even at that, such claim of damage has to be traceable to an act of willful negligence on the part of the freight forwarder or transporter.

“In gross violation of the Government Regulation which is made pursuant to existing laws of Nigeria, Shipping Companies  operating in Nigeria have continued to hold on to our client’s  container deposits for weeks and sometimes  months after the empty containers have been returned,” the aggrieved leader said. His position is back by a directive contained in a notice by the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), NSC/LN-SC/2019/002, which says that all shipping companies and shipping agencies shall refund container deposits to importers within four working days after return of the empty containers.

“Indeed, the situation has been appalling given that space constraint has been a hydra-headed problem for trucks working in the ports. This is because shipping companies, after previous pressures, had to rent spaces as holding bays. Unfortunately, such spaces are now grossly inadequate to handle the volume of empty containers that are supposed to be returned to such places, leading to containers being turned back from such holding bays on account of no space.

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“Apart from inadequate space, shipping companies or terminals operating such holding bays impose illegal charges on our clients and their colleagues for bringing the empty containers to the holding bays which they call service charge or any such related charges imposed on our clients for returning empty containers to a designated holding bay is illegal, exploitative and to say the least, outright fraud,” Omenogo explained.

Buttressing their position, the group referred the terminal operators to the government directive of July 9, 2019, with reference number NSC/LN-SC/2019/002, which stated: “Operators of empty container holding bays should promptly receive empty containers at no cost. The government has not approved any levy for the return of empty containers. Any charge(s) by shipping company/agent or any other service provider arising from delay in accepting empty container(s) shall be borne by the terminal that causes the delay.”

The group therefore placed the following demands on shipping companies: refund of all illegal charges and demurrage collected since the past two years; provision of holding bays with adequate capacity to hold high volume of empty containers. The group also noted that it is now illegal for any shipping company to withhold consignments  due to outstanding payment on previous transactions by freight forwarders.

“Any shipping company  who has such claim against a freight forwarder is by law required to forward its complain to the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and not to withhold release of any consignment or container. We notice that shipping companies have continued to indulge in this brazen illegality and we hereby demand immediate end to such unfair and illegal trade practice,’’ the group warned, adding that any service provider who causes delay or service failure shall henceforth bear the cost and associates penalty charges arising from such delay or service failure.”

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has restated its commitment to the well-being of disaster victims in the country.

Its Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside, stated during the presentation of food items and other materials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

The agency said, Dakuku, who was represented by the NIMASA’s Director, Special Duties (External Relations and Technical Cooperation), Hajia Lami Tumaka,  said: “This is part of the nation-wide donation of diverse forms of relief materials to people displaced as a result of the 2019 flood disaster that submerged some parts of the state and some other states across the country.

“It is a continuation of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, which have taken place in some states and are still on-going.”

The Southsouth Zonal Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Walson I. Brandon, who received the relief materials for flood disaster victims and  IDPs in Tai, Andoni, and Opobo-Nkoro local government areas of the state, appreciated NIMASA for the gesture and appealed to other corporate organisations and individuals to emulate the agency.

Brandon said: “The agency is ever grateful for this kind gesture and it would not be forgotten in a hurry. We call on well-meaning Nigerians also and corporate institutions to emulate NIMASA.’’

We assure that the items donated would be judiciously distributed to the affected persons with the aim of alleviating their suffering.”

The DG told the representatives of NEMA that NIMASA would vigorously pursue the improvement of the welfare of Nigerians, and urged the coordinator to ensure judicious use of the items.

“We are here as a corporate organisation to comply with the Federal Government’s directive to all government organisations to use their powers and resources to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians affected by flood and other disasters.

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“We, therefore, call on other corporate bodies to partner with us in this drive in order to always support the Federal Government’s drive in advancing gestures that impact lives positively and meaningfully in the country,” Dakuku added.

While receiving the materials at the South-South zonal store of NEMA in Port Harcourt, Brandon commended the efforts of NIMASA. He emphasised that the gesture was a significant and timely intervention in support of the Federal Government’s efforts to guarantee the welfare of the citizens.

Materials donated to the victims included rice, corn, mattresses, sugar, salt, Dettol, beans, noodles, soap/detergents, sanitary pad, dippers, mats, blankets, mosquito nets, dairy foods, palm/vegetable oil, grinding machines, and pumping and sewing machines.

“It is worthy of note that the Federal Government has consistently encouraged interested philanthropists and non-governmental organisations to partner with government in order to cater for the needs of Nigerians affected by disaster.

” It is in line with this that NIMASA is carrying out the CSR activities across the six geopolitical zones in the country.”