The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Nigeria, Korea to strengthen maritime relations

    Nigeria, Korea to strengthen maritime relations

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said on Monday that the agency would strengthen partnership between Nigeria and the Republic of Korea to enhance the maritime industry.

    The Head, Public Relations Department in NIMASA, Hajia Lami Tumaka, said this in a statement in Lagos, a copy which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The statement said that the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, stressed the need to enhance the maritime industry, while receiving the Korean Consul-General to Nigeria, Mr Lee Younghoan, at the agency’s headquarters.

    According to him, the two countries stand to derive mutual benefits from such relationship.

    Peterside recognised the strategic position of Korea as a great ship building nation.

    He advised the Consul-General on the need for qualified Nigerian seafarers to be placed on-board Korean vessels operating in Nigerian maritime domain.

    The NIMASA chief said that Nigeria had a pool of qualified seafarers and other competent maritime personnel, who could adequately serve the global maritime industry.

    Peterside said the agency was committed toward tackling the menace of piracy and other forms of crimes at sea.

    “Nigeria is poised to tackle the menace of piracy and we have recorded great successes in the past three months.

    “Our vision is to have a safe and secured ocean with zero piracy in the next one year,’’ the director-general said.

    Younghoan, commended NIMASA for its efforts in fighting piracy on the nation’s waterways.

    The consul-general appealed for more surveillance and security in safeguarding lives and property on the nation’s waterways.

    He assured the director-general of the readiness of the Korean Government to support Nigeria in the area of maritime safety and security.

    NAN reports that Peterside, at a recent forum, expressed the desire of the agency to work with other stakeholders and expedite action on the passage of the Anti-Piracy and Other related Crimes at Sea into law.

  • 31 ships with petroleum products, food items to arrive Lagos

    31 ships with petroleum products, food items to arrive Lagos

    Thirty one ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports in Lagos from April 6 to April 24.

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its publication – `Shipping Position’, – a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    NPA explained that the expected ships contained buck wheat, empty containers, frozen fish, bulk sugar, general cargoes, containers, steel products, diesel and petrol.

    The document noted that a ship had arrived the port, waiting to berth with aviation fuel.

    NAN reports that 16 other ships are at the ports discharging general cargoes, wheat, ethanol, aviation fuel, crude palm oil, containers and petrol.

  • Concession ‘has raised ports revenue’

    Concession ‘has raised ports revenue’

    What has changed at the ports since their concession in 2006? A lot, says a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF).

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) management, the official said, has been running the ports efficiently.

    NPA, the official said, generated $140 million in 2005 before the concession and over $450 million from the Lagos Ports in 2014.

    Speaking with The Nation, the official said, the government has been earning more income since the concession.

    The government, he said, conces-sioned the ports to generate more revenue and allow for greater flexibility, efficiency and better services to importers and other port users by resolving some of the major challenges confronting ports operations.

    The turnaround time in 2005, at the Lagos Port complex and Tin-Can port, he said, was 10.0; vessel waiting time was 3.0.

    In 2014, the official pointed out that the turnaround time and vessel waiting time had reduced to 4.0 and 1.3.

    “Concession is a process whereby the concession grantor gives the right to operate a facility and/or deliver a service of public interest to a merchant concessionaire, against the commitment assumed by the concessionaire to build and manage the subject of the concession or to manage the delivery of service at the concessionaire’s own risk,” the official said.

    Before the 2006 concession, the official said, the ports demonstrated very low levels of efficiency, which resulted in long turnaround times for ships and increased container dwell time.

    In today’s global commerce, he said, seaports play an important role of being many nations’ major gateway for international trade and are a good instrument for measuring the economic health of a nation.

    “The ports have considerable influence on the volume and conditions of trade as well as the capacity for economic development of nations still developing.

    “In our country, greater percentage of international trade is routed through the sea, and given our huge population, it is believed that our economy accounts for over 70 per cent of all seaborne trade in the West African sub-region. Hence, the country’s ports are increasingly challenged to meet the pressure mounted from movement of ships and cargo in and out of the ports.

    “The Federal Government embarked on the concession of the ports basically to solve the protracted problems of inefficiency, corruption, mismanagement and huge debts that characterised the ports, then.

    “The rationale behind the concession includes the $34 million indebtedness of the NPA, the redundancy of 24 out of 83 managers as well as its poor management structure. Emphatically, concession of the ports refers to lease of port terminals and re-organisation of stevedoring companies. About 110 applications were received in December 2003 and out of 94 pre-qualified concessionaires, only 20 were granted to operate seaport terminals for 10 to 25 years,” the official said.

    Since the concession was done, the official said:

    • The cost of port services is competitive;
    • The turnaround time has improved;
    • The percentage of berth occupancy rate has improved;
    • The infrastructural facilities have improved significantly and
    • The security around the seaports has improved.

    The official, however, lamented the poor access roads to the Lagos ports and urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Transport to address the perennial gridlock in Apapa.

    NPA’s General Manager Wester Ports, Chief Michael Kayode Ajayi said the current management is working to ensure that the ports become “the leading Port in Africa, to deliver efficient port service in a safe, secure and customer-friendly environment.  Our core value includes efficiency, safety, security, customer friendly and new innovations”.

    Ajayi said Nigerians have forgotten that before the concession, the “turnaround time for ships was too long and usually calculated in weeks, sometimes months, depending on the cargo being loaded or discharged; cargo-handling plants and equipment owned by the NPA were few and mostly unserviceable, leading to shipping companies hiring these machines from private sector sources after having paid for it.

    Dwell time for goods in ports, he said, was prolonged due to poor port management. “There was congestion in the port; corruption was high among contractors and various service providers at the port; the ports were rated as one of the costliest seaports in the world, as a result of the compounded problems.

    “Many port premises and quay aprons had fallen to disuse and failed road sections inside the ports made movement of goods within port grounds cumbersome and very slow; following the seaport congestion, complaints of untraceable or missing cargoes were being regularly leveled against the NPA,” Ajayi said, adding that the security inside the ports was said to have been compromised by the activities of camp-boys,  wharf-rats  and other miscreants operating inside the ports.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said with the huge equipment at the ports and the introduction of standard in the type of vehicles that can enter the ports, “NPA has brought efficiency to the ports.”

  • Customs seizes N360m goods

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, has seized N360 million worth of goods.

    The goods were seized following a fresh approach adopted by the zone in its operations, it was learnt.

    Its key performance index (KPI), it was learnt, is based on the number of  seizures being made by the enforcement arm of the service.

    The unit, findings revealed, has raised the standard of its anti-smuggling campaign and was evident from the quality and quantity of seizures made in recent times.

    When The Nation visited the Government Warehouse, where the seized goods are kept, the volume of the seizure confirmed the unit’s claim.

    The seized items included 3,374 bags of various sizes of parboiled rice, with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N22,093,500; 11,854 cartons of poultry products  with a DPV of N64,011,600.00;  35 vehicles; 2,003 jerry cans of vegetable oil and assorted general merchandise, including newand used textiles materials; new and used footwears; new and used hand bags; used tyres; electrical pad; fridges; furniture; soaps and detergents among others.

    The new approach of combating smugglers, it gathered, was introduced after the regular meetings the Comptroller-General, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd) and the management team had with a few Controllers of Federal Operations Units, the Eastern/Western marine commands, the Customs Intelligence Unit and valuation officers.

    The approach, according to findings, has enhanced and strengthened surveillance in all approved and unapproved routes used by the smugglers to circumvent the Federal Government’s policy on trade.

    Speaking with The Nation after the facility tour of the government warehouse and workshop area of the unit, Umar Mohammed Dahiru said his officers and men are determined to suppress smuggling in their area of operation.

    He said that the Customs management and the Comptroller-General are fully committed to ensuring that the service does not renege in its core functions of revenue collection, suppression of smuggling and facilitation of legitimate trade and provision of security along the waterways and the border amidst other adhoc assignments.

    “The latest approach became necessary in view of the fact that there is a compelling need to design appropriate templates to fight smuggling in view of its devastating effect on the nation’s economy.

    “There have been regular meetings between our Comptroller-General and some selected Controllers of FOUs, the Eastern/Western marine commands, the Customs Intelligent Unit as well as valuation units. These meeting were usually convened to find practical solution to some infractions, which do not augur well for the socio-economic development of our country.

    “The service, more than ever before, is looking inwards in conjunction with critical stakeholders to find a lasting solution to areas where revenue is suspected to be lost with a view to blocking them. Despite the concerted effort of our officers and men, the  Service cannot claim to have all the solutions because no country in the world can claim to have completely eradicated smuggling,” Dahiru said.

    The Controller told The Nation that a truck load of fairly used tyres, consisting 1,198 pieces was intercepted a few days ago, by the Controller’s Monitoring Team ‘B’ Idiroko Axis, led by Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Jatau Micah.

    The seizure, he said, came as a result of the painstaking effort of the team and their renewed vigour and enhanced surveillance. The Duty Paid Value of the used tyres N6,469,200 and they have been deposited at the government warehouse of the unit.

    Reacting to questions regarding Presidential directive on sending food items to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, the Controller confirmed that the Unit have started complying, he, however, stated that such items were usually subjected to test through the NAFDAC to ensure that they are good for human consumption.

    He, however, vowed that the service will continue to perform its core responsibility and lives up to government’s expectations.

    Dahiru appealed to Nigerians to support the service in its fight against smuggling.

  • NPA bars rickety vehicles at ports

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) management has started enforcing the minimum standard of trucks entering the Lagos Ports.

    “No rickety vehicle would henceforth, be allowed to enter the Lagos ports,” NPA Managing Director, Mallam Habib Abdullahi said.

    The NPA boss has, therefore, urged  truck owners stationed on the port access roads in Apapa and Tin-Can Island to remove them or pay N25,000 fine.

    Its General Manager Western Ports, Chief Michael Kayode Ajayi, in conjunction with a combined team of law enforcement agencies have embarked on a mobilisation exercise to sensitise truck drivers and road users within the Apapa and Tin Can Island axis on the need to maintain the minimum standards of their trucks.

    All the vehicles entering the ports, Ajayi said, must meet the minimum standard and pay the NN10,000 entry fee imposed by the NPA

    Over 2,000 vehicles, he said, have keyed into the programme.

    The combined team of the law enforcement agencies involved in the exercise were the  Police; officials of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA); Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) and NPA Security led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Mr S. Sani.

  • Crisis rocks Shipowners’ Forum

    The Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) has dissociated itself from the “Shipowners’ Forum” allegedly founded by some ship owners.

    Its Lagos Zone Coordinator, Capt. Taiwo Akinpelumi, told The Nation that the decision to form the forum was not taken at the General Assembly of the members.

    Akinpelumi also alleged that the person representing NISA at the forum was not nominated by the group nor delegated by its President, Capt. Olaniyi Labinjo.

    “We, therefore, write to dissociate Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) completely from the purported Shipowners’ Forum.

    “Firstly, a decision of such magnitude and proportion requires wide consultation with members, if at all interested, and are willing to unite, merge, fuse or partner NISA with any group, union, organisation or association, to be under an umbrella.

    “Such a decision should be taken at the General Assembly of the members, which was not the case in this instance.

    “Secondly, the person representing NISA cannot represent the group because it is against the our constitution for anyone under whatever guise to represent the association in that capacity because he was nominated by the association nor delegated by its President, Capt. Olaniyi Labinjo, the elected, authentic and current leader of NISA, who is and still remains in office until the expiration of his tenure,” the association said in a statement.

    It continued: “Thirdly, there is a subsisting court order restraining the man and his group from parading him as the acting President of the group till the determination of the substantive suit before it.

    “Therefore, the report as contained in the newspapers that he is representing the leadership of NISA is a nullity at its best and in contempt of the order of a competent Court.

    “It is our humble opinion that the government cannot decree an association for investors, stakehol-ders or NISA in particular, in the shipping sector by fiat or through pronouncement of its officials.

    “This will amount to the ‘Principal dishing out instructions to his Pupils’ and our members being investors and major stakeholders in the maritime sector deserve better treatment and respect and should be free to determine if necessary to belong to any the forum.

    “More so, that the Constitution  guarantees freedom of association. NISA is certainly not part of the purported forum.”

  • American experts urge Nigeria to secure territorial waters

    American experts urge Nigeria to secure territorial waters

    To ensure that Nigeria becomes the hub of maritime trade in Africa, its leaders have been advised to develop a strategy for securing its territorial waters.

    It should also improve its maritime capabilities and expertise and collaborate with other member-countries of the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) and Economic Community of Central African State (ECCAS) to boost security on the waterways.

    At a teleconference  in Lagos by the United States Department of State Africa Regional Media Hub, Chief of Multinational Coordination Centre Zone D Capt Sylvester Mbah urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi to ensure that West and Central African countries worked together to combat piracy, illicit trafficking and illegal fishing, among others.

    Mbah was addressing reporters on phone on the 2016 Exercise Obangame/Saharan Express which began last week in Senegal, Dakar. The exercise will end in Cameroon on Friday.

    Obangame is an African word meaning “All togetherness.” Nigeria hosted the exercise in 2012 and 2014.

    It is a multinational maritime exercise sponsored by the United States Africa Command and it brings together African, European, South American and the US forces to enhance cooperation and expertise in maritime security operations.

    Mbah noted that Nigeria, Cameroon and other African countries have benefited from Obangame, in terms of capacity building and information sharing, urging the 32 participating countries to have the political will and good legal framework to protect local and international waters.

    The US Naval Officer in charge of the exercise, Navy Captain Heidi Agle, said the collaboration would strengthen transportation, shipping, fishing and tourism industries and improve participating countries economies. The overall objective of the exercise, she said, “is to encourage the regional countries to work together to increase their capacity to cure what I call “sea blindness,” which is to increase their maritime domain awareness.

    “Regional security is vital to us all, and mutual understanding makes us a stronger, faster team.

    “In 2015, we evolved into a two- front coordinated exercise focused on information sharing and decentralised command and control.  ‘’Building upon those principals, this year’s exercise includes real-world scenarios. Our primary objective is to learn from one another, work with one another and stay at least one step ahead of our common foes.

    “Maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea has improved due to our collective efforts. Maintaining commerce across the globe requires teamwork. It takes strength, cooperation, and commitment to combat the criminals who operate at sea.  We have seen ECOWAS and ECCAS nations possess the will, the capability, and the capacity to successfully conduct operations to enhance maritime security,” Agle said.

    Chief of Zone D Maritime Operations Centre and Director of the exercise for Cameroon, Captain Fonkoua, said the threats of hostage taking, piracy, illegal fishing and trafficking were affecting ECOWAS and ECCAS economies.

    “That is why we talked about a collective partnership and an African exercise with the American Navy and African navies to train together in order to overcome these threats,” he said.

    On how the exercise will help Nigeria to stem oil theft and criminalities on the water ways, Fonkoua said: “Nigeria is particularly very, very concerned about this problem. But I think that there are many, many improvements which have been done since we have launched this partnership.

    “You can remember the example of the good information sharing that has led Nigeria to go and remove a ship, a motor ship, which was under pirate control, Maximus, and which was been stolen in Ivory Coast, and has sailed from ECOWAS waters into ECCAS waters. As she went into international waters to reclaim the ship,  the Nigerian Navy has done a great job. She utilised information sharing mechanism between the French and US Navy, Togo, and Benin, with some handover of the vessel of interest, which led the Nigerian Navy to have a successful boarding on board the Maximus. This is the kind of response which is a benefit of what we are doing through this kind of exercise.”

  • Customs seizes N9.9m poultry products, fish

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted 1,263 cartons of poultry products and frozen fish worth over N9.9 million.

    The items, concealed in a Volvo truck, were seized by the Headquarters Special Assignment Team ‘C’, Ogun State Axis. The team was led by Assistant Comptroller of Customs Shittu Almarof.

    The Volvo truck with registration number LND 298 XN was intercepted for random check on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway.

    Almarof told The Nation that the occupants of the truck gave themselves away by their suspicious behaviour.

    “Therefore, a casual search was conducted on the truck even though the occupants had earlier told the team that the truck was carrying frozen fish.

    “The truck was brought down to the headquarters of Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ Ikeja-Lagos, where physical examination confirmed that the truck carried 785 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products concealed with 478 cartons of frozen fish.

    “The Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the items is N9,975,000.

    “We are working assiduously and in close collaboration with other anti-smuggling outfits in the zone to deal very decisively with the hydra- headed monster of smuggling. We have the responsibility to complement the effort of allied teams in the Zone in view of the need to frontally tackle smuggling within the South-West and its environ,” he said.

    Almarof reiterated his determination to rid the zone of smugglers with the collaboration of communities on unapproved routes, who information on their activities.

    “The Headquarters  Special Assignment Team is doing everything  with other anti-smuggling units namely the Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ and state commands to ensure the protection of the interest of local investors in the agric sector and other critical areas.

    “We were given a specific mandate at inception to aggressively patrol all flanks and flashpoints within the Zone and ensure total blockade of such identified areas. The capacity of the team has been strengthened to meet the exigencies of the moment”. If you look at the parameters, you will agree with me that the heat is on these smugglers and we will do everything humanly possible to pre-empt them with a view to wreaking havoc.

    “It is on the basis of this, that we request the support of patriotic informants to avail the service and the team of genuine information that can help us track them. I wish to reiterate at this juncture that the task of eradicating smuggling within our domain remains the responsibility of all Nigerians and we must not renege on this responsibility, because posterity and history will not be fair to us if we fail to do the needful.

    “We must realise that we have a duty to safeguard the economy from the hands of economic saboteurs who are bent on destroying our economy and that is why we commended the team leader, Ismaila Umar for the good work,” he said.

    He promised to work in line with the policy thrust of the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hammed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) and his management which is anchored on integrity, transparency and accountability. He appreciated the support of the NCS Management and vowed not to let them down.

  • Agbakoba seeks passage of Maritime Bill

    The National Assembly has been urged to review the Cabotage Law and pass pending maritime bills to end the domination of the shipping business by foreign vessels.

    A maritime lawyer, Mr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), who made the call, also urged the Federal Government to consider the resuscitation of the Maritime Operations Coordination Board to boost the economy.

    Represented by the Managing Partner of Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), Mrs Priscilla Ogwemoh at a breifing in Lagos, Agbakoba said the delay in the passage of the Ports and Harbours bills, among others, was hampering the industry’s development.

    The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president said the maritime sector could generate over N7 trillion if the government paid attention.

    “We have advocated for a review of some of our laws such as the Cabotage Act, the Local Content Act, the Shipping Policy Act and the Ports and Harbours Bill and there has also been a call for serious reform in our ports and issue of security must be looked into.

    “There are so many leakages that if we are able to harness properly, it will lead to huge revenue. The N7 trillion is an estimate of what we are losing annually in the sector but if all these leakages are blocked, then the government would have a good revenue source from the maritime sector.

    “We would like the Cabotage Act to be reviewed in a way that can lead to higher revenue generation. We are losing a lot of revenue due to the non-implementation of the Caboatge Law as a result of foreign vessels doing business on our waters.

    “If the Cabotage Act is reformed, that would be another way we can block revenue leakages and if foreign vessels must operate within our waters, they must pay highly for it.”

    Lamenting the non-implementation of the recommendations of a presidential committee on how to move the sector forward, which he chaired under the past administration, Agbakoba expressed the hope that the current administration would adopt some of the recommendations.

  • Shippers to Fed Govt: pay attention to port infrastructure

    Shippers to Fed Govt: pay attention to port infrastructure

    The Shippers’ Association of Lagos State (SALS) has urged the Federal Government to pay more attention to port infrastructure.

    The government, the group said, should position the ports to meet international best practices.

    Its President, Mr Jonathan Nicol,  gave the charge in a chat with The Nation at the Shippers’ Day and exhibition organised by the group.

    He called for the resuscitation of the informal sector of cargo management.

    According to him, the informal sector will contribute about 45 per cent of the total cargo throughput (imports and exports). He said  there was need to rebuild the dead infrastructure at the ports to enable individuals in the sector to assist in nation-building.

    The Nigeria Customs Service’s Comptroller-General Colonel Hameed Alli (rtd), who was represented by the Zonal Coordinator Zone ‘A’, Charles Edike, praised the group for organising the event, saying that despite the low import caused by the falling of the naira, the Customs revenue collection has continued to increase.

    The Customs boss said without members of the group, there would be no cargo at the port and Customs revenue would be dwindling.

    The Customs boss urged the shippers and importers not to be discouraged by the downturn in the  economy, saying that the country is undergoing reforms and that trade will pick up soonest.

    “Before now, there was a lull in importation, but even at that, the revenue is increasing. We expect that when there is no importation, revenues should fall but rather it is increasing and this is because of your good works.

    “If shippers do not carry the cargo, there is nothing for Customs to collect revenue from. I understand the challenges you are facing now, but don’t be afraid, match on. Things may be hard today, but tomorrow will be better,” he said.

    The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Hassan Bello, who was represented by Mrs Okam Ada, advised members of the group to export, especially non-oil exports.

    Bello said so far, 27 shippers associations have been established across the country. He said these associations are formidable bodies for cargo protection.

    “Shippers should endeavour to channel efforts into exportation of value-adding non-oil exports to generate revenue.

    “The Council is still committed to protecting the cargo interest of Nigeria and also enjoined you to remain compliant to both national and international rules guiding global trade practices.

    “The SALS have been very active. I must commend them for their doggedness and laudable ideas and I hope they continue,” Bello said.

    Also, a maritime lawyer, Mr Osuala Nwagbara, said there was the need for operators to embrace maritime arbitration to resolve issues which emanated from their business.

    He said arbitrators had been in existence for more than 10 years, adding that the arbitrators had assisted several port operators to solve maritime disputes.

    “We are dedicating a week in May to offer free services in solving disputes in the maritime industry,’’ he said.