The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Agents to NIMASA: build ship repair facility

    Agents to NIMASA: build ship repair facility

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside, has been urged to promote indigenous ship repairs and dry docking.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) President Olayiwola Shittu said the country has no functional ship repairs and dry docking firms.

    Nigeria, Shittu said, accounted for over 70 per cent of the ships coming to Africa, adding that no fewer than 5,000 vessels berthed at the ports last year. He said with modern repairs facilities, the sector could make billions of naira and create jobs.

    Most of the vessels operating on Nigeria’s territorial waters, he said, go to neighbouring countries for dry docking and routine maintenance, resulting in huge losses to the country.

    Shittu decried the pollution of the waters, urging NIMASA to address illegal fishing and dumping of hazardous wastes there.

    He said the dumping of toxic wastes and increasing crimes on the coastline required the collaboration and commitment of the Federal Government and NIMASA, with foreign partners to build a safe sector.

    The ANLCA chief said security experts in Africa had developed theories to check the increasing dumping of hazardous wastes and piracy, adding that Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had set the stage for cooperation between states, in information exchange and mobilisation of resources.

    He lamented that the insecurity of Africa’s waterways forced insurers to hike rates for ships passing through the region.

    Shittu said: “This significant maritime presence requires that ship repairs with dry docks of varying capacities be established to cope with the maintenance requirement of these vessels. Classification of society rules and the good maintenance of ships require that ships be dry docked every 30 months on the average for routine surveys.

    “Special surveys are required at every alternative docking once in three years. As the age of a vessel increases, so does the amount of repair work needed. Aside from routine docking, vessels need to come to propeller and ship hull, or damaged caused by ropes or debris, and also mechanical breakdown.

    “Sadly, the ship repairs industry in Nigeria is under-developed and its potential untapped.This is largely because the government has not paid meaningful attention to this sector of the economy.

    “As a result of the shortage of adequate ship repair facilities, most of the vessels operating in Nigeria waters proceed to neighbouring countries for scheduled dry docking and other routine maintenance works. This is at huge financial loss to the country, while at the same time denying employment opportunities for Nigerians,’’ he said.

    Shittu lauded the move by the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, to establish a new national shipping line. He, however, said there was need for the government to support the private sector by providing enabling environment.

  • NPA promotes workers

    Some senior officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) have been promoted.

    Those promoted to General Manager are Assistant General Manager Audit, Mr Ndunofit Offiong; Assistant General Manager Public Affairs, Eastern Port Musa Ilya and Olufemi Oyejola.

    Ilya, it was gathered, is now the General Manager, Public Affairs, Eastern Port; Oyejola becomes General Manager, Special Project.

    Effioita Ephraim, who is in charge of NPA’s Abuja Liaison Office, is now a General Manager.

     

  • Workers make case for vehicle importers

    Maritime workers have sought a month’s grace for importers whose consignment was trapped by the ban on land importation of vehicles to clear them.

    The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) hailed the Federal Government for the ban, saying the policy would increase traffic at the ports, create jobs and boost revenue

    Its President, Comrade Anthony Nted Emmanuel urged indigenous auto-manufacturing firms to address the challenges of building cars in the country.

    He decried the poor state of the access roads to the ports, urging the government to address the situation.

    “The roads have become death traps to every road user, despite strong assurance from Federal Government and Nigerian Ports Authority that contract had been awarded. There is nothing to show that the contract has been awarded,” Emmanuel said.

    He also said his group was unhappy that importers and manufacturers were finding it difficult to access foreign exchange (forex), adding that there should be a quick solution to the problem.

  • INTELS, others owe NPA over N17b, says ministry official

    INTELS, others owe NPA over N17b, says ministry official

    Despite collecting over $1.2 billion revenue at the ports in six years, the Integrated Logistic Facilities and Services (INTELS) is owing the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) about N4 billion, The Nation has learnt.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) who pleaded not to be named said,  INTELS officials may be invited by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) next week over the debt.

    The official said some operators at Onne Port were also owing the NPA $7,931,247 (N3.9 billion) and N9,458,785,726.

    The debt, the official said, excluded what the Nigerian  National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other service providers were owing the government through NPA.

    The ministry, the official said, is worried because the government needs money to fix the economy.

    INTELS collected the over $1 billion revenue from service boats between 2010 and last year, the official said.

    INTELS, he said, collected $1.2 billion between January 2010 and September last year, and additional $41 million between October and December.

    Intels indebtedness to the NPA, according to the official, is on rents, lease and throughput fees.

    The firrm, the FMoF official said, has interests in Onne, Warri and Calabar Ports.

    He said: “At Onne and Warri ports, INTELS has over $1 million to pay NPA for lease and throughput fees and N3,343,147,886 for rent at Onne Port. These put together amount to about N4 billion.

    “Between January 2010 and December last year, Intels remitted only $3.4 million to NPA from the service boats revenue it collected. This figure represents 27 per cent of the total service boat revenue collected by the company on behalf of the authority and that is why the Minister of Finance is curious about the amount collected on behalf of the government and the amount remitted to it.

    “Because the total agency commission to Intels which was computed in line with executed agreement was $3.5million and the amount should have been deducted electronically by the company based on the subsisting agreement but the ministry finds out that Credit Notes were issued by the NPA to regularise it.

    “In the agreement signed by Intels with NPA, it provides that Intels shall source for funds for the purpose of executing its various projects. It was based on that that the agreement provided for a finance cost computed at 180 days+6 per cent LIBOR and 180 days +6.5 per cent LIBOR for its phase 4B and Bulinose projects.

    “The ministry has however, discovered that the NPA was not in any way involved in the negotiation for loans by Intels with banks to appreciate the portion liable to finance cost.

    “The FEC is aware that NPA pays Intels on every interim certificate submitted but not amortised, the FEC has also come to know that the company does not pay the authority any interest on revenue collected by it which has not been applied for amortisation due to budget ceiling.

    “Amortisation is the process designed by the NPA to enable Intels recover the cost of its investment in the development of port infrastructure.

    “Both the FEC and some members of the National Assembly are aware that Intels always keep the un-amortised sum in its custody and uses  same for the construction of most of the projects the government suffers the finance cost.

    The FMoF official urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate NPA’s revenue being allegedly held back by Intels and the purported loan being sourced privately by the company to execute its projects.

    “To us, at the ministry, NPA is silently suffering from a huge revenue loss that affects its liquidity and paying for finance cost that increases the original contract price it had with INTELS,” the official said.

  • NPA, Customs collaborate

    To promote trade, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS) are collaborating to introduce the much-awaited Single Window (SW) platform at the ports.

    The two agencies, the Managing Director, NPA, Ms Hadiza Balla Usman said, have embarked on the establishment of SW through an intense automation and introduction of Standard Operative Procedure ( SOP) at ports.

    Ms Usman said  the adoption of SW would make Nigeria’s ports competitive in the international trade network and boost the trade facilitation programme of the government.

    Speaking during her courtesy visit to the  Comptroller General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali   (Rtd) in Abuja,  Ms Usman said the synergy on SW would boost government revenue and promote Public Private Participation through the attraction of local and Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI).

    The government, she said, was aware of its responsibilities to create the enabling business environment to realise  the objective.

    The Federal Government, Ms Usman said, was determined to make the ports efficient, safe, secure, productive and eco-friendly in their operations be they  logistics or finance.

    NPA and Customs, she said, were the two  arrow head agencies driving the logistic and financial portals  on behalf of the government and that the duo have the responsibility to synergise and build up a common industry culture around the ports to achieving the right level in trade facilitation.

  • Firm set to unveil land ship

    All is now set for the unveiling of Nigeria’s land ship, MV Rivers Pride, in the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt.

    Situated at Ozuoba, along the East-West Road, Port Harcourt, the land ship was built by an indigenous and privately-owned maritime training institution, Charkin Maritime and Offshore Safety Centre.

    The land ship comprises full mission navigational bridge simulator; ECDIS Simulation Room; GMDSS (Navigation) Simulation Room which conforms to the 2010 Manila Amendments by the global maritime watchdog, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO); and the basic dynamic positioning class.

    Other components of the land ship are advance dynamic positioning and examination class; nautical institute examination room; and the drilling system crane simulator.

    The centre has the approval of local and international regulatory agencies across the globe. These include the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), OPITO, United Kingdom, and the International Well Control Forum (IWCF), United Kingdom.

    Others are the Nautical Institute (NI), Oil and Gas Training Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), International Association of Safety and Survival Training (IASST), United Kingdom, and the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigerian (PETAN).

    Besides the fact that it is a member of the British Safety Council, among others, it is also affiliated to the Regional Maritime University, Accra, Ghana.

    A statement issued by the centre stated that besides the unveiling of the MV Rivers Pride, it will also lay the foundation stone for a 200-marine cadet’s accommodation block early in February.

    According to the statement, Charkin Maritime and Offshore Safety Centre is committed to providing maritime education and training of international repute. Charkin has a trend of rendering and improving on high quality training to guarantee competence in a conducive and friendly environment. It is a one-stop-shop for the marine, oil and gas training.

    The academy stated that the unveiling of the facility was meant to bridge the gap in maritime education and training in the country.

  • 48-hour cargo clearance stays, says Bello

    To ensure ports’ competitiveness, 48-hour clearance of goods must be complied with, Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, has said.

    Speaking with The Nation in his office, Bello said the deadline was the only way to free the ports and make them attractive for business.

    He said the council was established to regulate tariffs, charges, dues, rates and quality of services

    He, therefore, sought an amendment of the NSC Act to strengthen its control of traffic, rates and related economic charges at the ports to make them the hub in the sub-region.

    “The Act establishing the NSC needs to be amended by the National Assembly to enable it to enforce fair trade practices to protect rights and balance interest of providers and users of ports services as it is required to do in Section 3 of its establishment Act,” Bello said.

    According to him, the council’s aim was to provide more platforms for quick cargo clearance to make the ports more efficient next year.

    He urged stakeholders to resolve the challenges of quick cargo clearance, saying: “The idea is that the NSC is the referee in this friendly contest, and the more we interact with the terminal operators, other service providers and government agencies, the better understanding we will get and the more robust our ports would be.”

    This year, Bello said, the council would focus on generating more revenue for the government through price control, trade facilitation and quick cargo clearance.

  • Monitor wreck removal, govt told

    Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi has been urged to direct the board and  management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to monitor the company that will be awarded the contracts for the removal of wrecks and abandoned vessels from  channels leading to the ports.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF), who craved for anonymity, told The Nation , that there is  need for the board and management of NPA to re-examine previous contracts awarded for the dredging of the channels and removal of wrecks and abandoned vessels.

    The official said the projects required proper monitoring because the government had sunk, and would still spend a “huge’’ amount of tax payers’ money on them.

    He alleged that, in the past, the contracts were awarded by the NPA but, in most cases, the dredging was not carried out according to specification, and the wrecks were not removed even after the government had paid.

    “When you give them the contract to dredge the channel or remove the wreck, it is the government that will pay for it; but when they don’t remove the wreck, the government will not know if there is no proper monitoring and the people will suffer for it,’’ he said.

    The official said the NPA would  ensure that the monitoring was replicated in other areas of its responsibilities.

    “Nigeria, being a huge maritime nation, can only maintain a hub status when projects are handled professionally to meet the needs they are designed for,’’ he said.

    Investigation revealed that NPA and the Nigerian Maritime Admi-nistration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), in 2009, got the Federal Government’s approval to remove wrecks from the waters for N3.4 billion.

    Twenty-four of the wrecks were said to be obstructing navigation.

     

  • Ports hurdles may hamper policy on imported vehicles

    Ports hurdles may hamper policy on imported vehicles

    THE high cost of operations at the nation’s seaports may hinder the effectiveness of the ban on importa-tion of vehicles through  the land borders, or ports of neighbouring countries, it was learnt yesterday.

    Operators complain of high Customs duty and  levies that are not applicable in the neighbouring ports. Some of these charges, which  have scared operators over time, include the 35 per cent duty and another 35 per cent levy on new vehicles.

    Also, there is 35 per cent duty imposed on used vehicles which are not applicable in Cotonou and other neighbouring ports that serve as an inducement or incentive to Nigerian vehicle importers.

    Besides, tracing capability and speed, poor yard planning and spacing, online accessibility of pricing and quick debt note reconciliation, among others,  are challenges responsible for high cost of operations at Nigerian ports.

    Other areas the government needs to look into include poor port access road, the gridlock in Apapa, trailer park, low level of automation and integration of handling process by government agencies  such as terminal operators, importers, truck drivers and clearing agents; poor infrastructure investment profile by the government; un-streamlined movement of containers per crane, per hour from ships to stacking position and the trucks.

    National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) National President, Mr. Lucky Amiwero, said the import duty on used vehicles has negatively impacted operations at the port and led to massive revenue and job loss.

    He said poor access road and arbitrary import duty hike led to the diversion of vessels carrying vehicles to the ports of neighbouring West African countries, thereby boosting operations in those ports, especially the Port of Cotonou at the expense of Nigerian ports. The development, he said, had also negatively affected the operations of dockworkers, licensed Customs agents, freight forwarders, truckers and others.

    Nigerian ports, he said, have lost about 80 per cent of their vehicle cargo as a result of 35 per cent duty which has done more harm than good to the economy. ‘’It has promoted smuggling and led to huge loss of government and private sector revenue to the advantage of the ports of neighbouring countries. It is estimated that no fewer than 5,000 jobs and  several billions of naira  is lost annually to cargo diversion.”

    Also, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) president, Prince Olayiwola Shittu blamed the high cost of vehicle processing at the ports to diversion ans loss of revenue

    Importers, he said, clear many charges before taking their goods out of the ports, urging the government to address the problem and reduce the cost of doing business at the ports.

    Importers pay Customs duties and levies that are not uniform in most of the nation’s sea ports. Other tariff that make the ports expensive are the seven per cent development levy; one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme; 0.5 per cent  ECOWAS Trade Liberation Scheme (ETLS); NIMASA/NPA  Sea  Protection Levy (SPL); haulage cost– transportation per TEU and terminal operator progressive stage charges.

    Importers, Shittu said, also pay terminal operator documentation; terminal operator examination; terminal operator scan fees; terminal operator scan loading fee; terminal operator delivery; terminal operator terminal handling and terminal operator labour fees.

    “They also pay shipping line demurrage; shipping line agency; shipping line documentation; shipping lines telex release; Shipping line, container; shipping line container deposit fees; terminal operators two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line minimum of one month grace for container deposit refund; freight forwarders professional fee – unstreamilined; and several inconsiderate charges at the terminals, among others,” he said

    Lagos Shippers Association  President, Mr Jonathan Nicol, said the five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) and the one per cent Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) charge were some of the charges.

    The others are the 35 per cent Automobile Levy and the Common External Tariff Levy.

    According to him, the combined charges on one consignment affect shipper’s profit.

    He urged the Federal Government to address industrialists’ cry to reduce the charges.

    According to him, the Federal Ministry of Finance should provide leadership in managing the problems of the shipping community.

    The shippers’ boss said the government should think about the huge investments in building the seaports and maritime prospects in the next 20 years to attract more cargoes.

    Nicol also suggested that plans must be made to secure and promote local industries, the manufacturing sector and the shippers.

    He noted that it was the duty of the government to encourage private entrepreneurs to contribute to the economy’s growth.

    “When you add the costs of generating power in a factory with salaries, these costs cannot be by-passed whether you like it or not.

    “You must provide power for your factory and you must pay staff salaries,” he said.

    Nicol said the bottlenecks at the ports were largely the reasons behind the government’s appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator.

    He condemned the government’s inability to enforce the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable indigenous ship owners participate in crude oil lifting.

    He said the government should implement the law to allow indigenous shipping companies participate in oil business.

    A maritime lawyer, Mr Dipo Alaka, berated the government for not streamlining the charges.

    “To make matters worse, importers and clearing agents are compelled to pay demurrage on containers for the numbers of days containers remain at the port, even when there is system breakdown caused by the service providers.

    “The truth is that bulk terminals at the ports are struggling to pay their bills and meet their financial obligations to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) due to the plethora of banned products and the hike on import duties on others.

  • ‘NSC committed to efficiency at ports’

    The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, has assured that the Council is committed to ensuring efficiency at the nation’s ports to compete favourably with neighbouring countries.

    Speaking with The Nation, Bello said that automation of the ports’ services was necessary to drive the change needed to reform the sector to attract more cargoes into the country.

    He said automation of ports operations would increases efficiency, decrease waste, adding that openness would interrogate the system and process of cargo clearance.

    He said the effect was that people would be attracted to ports with increased volumes of cargo, which would then enhance the revenue of government. According to him, there will be more employment and the ports will then become the preferred destination for importers.

    “If it is five days in port A and it is one day in port B, I will rather go to port B because it is the economies of scale that determines which port is used. We have made it possible for us to make that comparison within the sub-consciousness of the national discourse on the economy.

    “It is important for our ports to be efficient and our ports are picking up now. Corruption is what we have been talking about and there are many ways to kill corruption and one of them is automation because the moment you have automation, corruption will just disappear.” With the introduction of their electronic payment platform, what took place in six days then, now takes place in six seconds.

    “Some of the delays have been eliminated by NPA and the agency is also trying to introduce other electronic system of doing things, the same thing with Customs.’’

    The NSC boss urged the government to take a deliberate action to address many challenges confronting the port system through consistent and predictable policies.

    He said that investors needed certainty and ease of doing business in Nigeria which could be brought about by government intervention, especially in the gridlock at Apapa.

    According to him, no matter how efficient a terminal is, if you don’t have the road to evacuate cargos, how can you do it. So there must be some level of intervention.

    “The ideas are to have an electronic passage to ensure that a truck is only in Apapa when it is needed to pick or drop cargo. Then the thank farms, we don’t need trailers tanker to go to tank farms because we have the pipeline which is also a means of transportation.

    “The moment we have these pipelines pumping to Mosimi and other flow stations, then we don’t need tankers in Apapa.

    “ We cannot rely on only access like road; port should be accessible by road, rail, inland water ways and pipelines because the port is not a storage place for cargo at all.’’

    Bello also said that NSC is also establishing Truck Transit Parks along major highways in the country to help address the challenges of trucks parking along major roads in the country.He said the project was Public Private Partnership (PPP) aimed at reducing incidences of road congestion and loss of cargos due to indiscriminate parking by truck drivers.

    The executive secretary explained that the council, in partnership with states government, would build modern parks that would have hotels, restaurants, filing stations and garages for repair and maintenance of vehicles.

    According to him, the facility will also have weigh measures not only for trucks but also small cars travelling at night can stop over there and stay because there will be security.This will provide revenue for the state government because there will be employment for people and other small businesses can spring up there also.”We have secured a land from Kogi State Government along Abuja road, Enugu State Government has also given us land in Obolo Afor and Kaduna State has indicated interest in the project.”When we introduced this issue, the Kaduna state government particularly became extremely interested and now they have advertised for people to take interest because it is modern and a cash cow.’’