The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Customs realises N30b

    Customs realises N30b

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Apapa Area Command, generated N30.1 billion last month.

    The amount is over N5 billion higher than the N24.5 billion it collected in July. The revenue is the second highest it generated after it made N32.4 billion in March.

    Of the amount, N16.082 billion was collected into the Federation Account, and N14.066 billion with the non-federation account.

    Its Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ekpa, said N30.1 billion was collected from import duty on wheat grain, rice levy, sugar levy and seven percent port levy among others.

    He said 39 vessels called at the port during the month under review compared to 51 that called in the corresponding period of 2014, adding that yard occupancy of the port was 45 per cent as against 75 percent in August 2014 while import discharge was 16,983 as against 27,722 of 2014.

    The image maker said despite low vessel calls at the port in August, the command recorded an increase in its revenue profile mainly due to dedication of officers and men of the command.

     

  • Cargo Tracking Note will aid ports security, say importers, others

    Cargo Tracking Note will aid ports security, say importers, others

    Can the Federal Government secure the sea ports without the introduction and enforcement of the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN)? No, say importers, clearing agents and other stakeholders in the maritime industry.

    CTN is a web-based cargo verification solution facility designed to monitor shipment of seaborne-cargo, allowing for real-time generation of ‘notes’ and various trading statistics on the cargo, vessel and shippers.

    The introduction of CTN by Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), stakeholders said, is to assist the Buhari administration  facilitate seamless marine transportation to guarantee the safety of human and marine life, goods, vessels, the ports environment and the country.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) president Prince Olayiwola Shittu said CTN is required for every Bill of Lading including groupage containers in many ports of the world to prevent crime and increase security.

    It is also a way of verifying the contents of every cargo, and then tracks that cargo between ports to ensure safety and security.

    “We are in support of the Nigerian Shippers Council in its quest to introduce the Cargo Tracking Note. They have promised us that it will not add to the cost of doing business in our ports. We are also in support because all international moving companies across the globe are required to comply with the cargo tracking note scheme. The shippers comply by collecting the required information on the goods to be shipped at a particular port. The carriers comply by checking that all cargo is covered by a CTN number before receiving for shipment, the Port Authorities check the details and the statistics to eliminate any threat to the safety of lives and port facilities. With the high level of insecurity in the north, I think we need the scheme to protect our ports and the people,” Shittu said.

    An importer and Executive Director Sua-Salau International Company, Mr Suarau Salau said that the Federal Government should not hesitate in supporting NSC in the introduction of CTN if it would bring peace and stability to the country.

    “Most importers want to be sure that the goods they are bring into a country will arrive securely, complete and intact. They also want to know when they will arrive and be ready for pick up to avoid payment of demiurge to terminal operators and the shipping companies.

    “Nigeria in 2015 needs a web-based system that interlinks all the major ports in the world to a tracking note that will carry all its details which will be used to assess the state and location of the cargoes coming into the country at all times.

    “CTN is a process that has its legal origin from the SOLAS Convention and ISPS Code. Nigeria is one of the least countries in the implementation of the cargo tracking notes as a result of which its benefits are lost in terms of national security,” Salau said.

    Investigation conducted by The Nation revealed that CTN has been in operation for a long time in continental Europe, America Asia and other African countries apart from Nigeria.

    When this reporter visited the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore and the port of Cotonou few weeks ago, findings revealed that all ships and cargoes coming to the two countries are tracked through the CTN to provide adequate security for their people.

    It has been revealed however, that in spite of its enormous benefits, CTN is yet to be introduced into the Nigerian port and cargo system.

    Speaking with The Nation at the weekend, its Executive Secretary Mr Hassan Bello boss said now is the time to bring the benefits of the system to this country.

    Nigeria, Bello said, needs a human and technological-necessary for cargo tracking notes that will work efficiently and effectively.

    “With the planned introduction of CTN, the NSC wants to ensure that cargo arriving our ports is properly taxed and that no ‘leakage’ is occurring during transit. NSC also wants to know and be sure that dangerous goods are not being smuggled into our country for the benefit of all,” Bello said.

    The rules on CTN, he said, would apply in addition to existing ports and Customs rules laid down by the federal Government and ECOWAS countries.

     

  • How NPA can bail out economy, by Ministry official

    How NPA can bail out economy, by Ministry official

    The Federal Government has been urged to support the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in its bid to boost the economy.

    NPA, it was gathered, is set to double its revenue next year, after achieving 95 per cent of its target in the 2013 and 2014 budgets.

    A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Finance, who craved anonymity, said at the weekend that things were expected to look upward, with the automation of NPA’s operations and its adoption of Revenue Invoicing Management Systems (RIMS).

    The officials said under this arrangement, revenue leakages will be blocked and operational revenue improved.

    With the port reforms, NPA is able to monitor terminal operators to track revenues through the automation platforms set up by its finance department.

    “With the introduction of RIMS, the NPA management under the leadership of Mallam Habib Abdullahi will be able to track where the revenue is leaking and it was based on his commitment that they have been able to achieve over 95 per cent of their annual budget in the last three years.”

    Findings however, revealed that a major impediment to NPA revenue drive is trade facilitation, while the management is working towards making the nation’s sea ports a hub in West Africa.

    “To double its revenue and surpass the budget target, what NPA needs now is the trade facilitation role of other government agencies. NPA has put its house in order with the cadre of the people that are currently leading the agency. But there is need for the Federal Government to ensure that the role of other agencies makes it very easy for any of the land-locked countries in West and Central Africa to know that the goods that are passing through Nigerian ports are safe, secured and will be delivered wherever they are needed,” the official said.

    Speaking with The Nation after launching RIMS, NPA Managing Director Abdullahi said the authority had “fully automated” the ports operations nationwide.

    He said the NPA would continue to introduce initiatives in line with best practices to ensure that it remains efficient, transparent and accountable to stakeholders and the people.

    “In February and September last year, we launched the Electronic Payment System and the Electronic Ship Entry Notice (E-Sen) as a first step towards full automation of our processes. This has tremendously improved efficiency in port operations as well as giving value to our esteemed stakeholders.

    “The Revenue Invoicing Management System and Customer Portal which we have just introduced are fully convergent and real time platforms for our processes, which will lower operational cost and shorten the time for documentation. These platforms fully integrate the electronic flow of information for business–to–customer and business–to–business with higher availability and flexibility. The platforms are also fully integrated with all our existing solutions such as Oracle Financials, Oracle Human Capital Management, NPA Pay direct via Inter switch and Electronic Ship Entry Notice (eSEN).

    “The introduction of this system has the potential to improve our service offering, improve our relationship with stakeholders, create efficient payment method, maximise revenue and minimise loss associated with fraud and revenue leakage.

    “The Customer Self Service Portal (CSSP) on the other hand, provides a platform for our customers to initiate and conclude their business process with us and also communicate with NPA.

    The benefits accruing from this portal, according to him, are: Improved customer service delivery; easy access to customer accounts status; view of all transactions and status in respect of bills; electronic upload of manifest; e-invoice and e-receipt generation.

    “Similarly, our Billing Applications which are already operational in all port locations, will soon proceed to the next stage. Currently, it covers payment processes in areas such as Lease Fees, Service Boats, Passenger boats, General Bills (Jetties and Trawlers), and Oil Terminal Dues (OTD)/Compulsory Pilotage Rates (CPR). The next stage will cover Throughput Fees, Estate Bills and Provisional/Final Bills.

    “The introduction of these measures will facilitate business growth with high performance and unlimited scalability of the operations of the authority. This is evident from statistics which have shown that cargo throughput increased from 46,150,518 metric tonnes in 2006 to 86,603,903 metric tonnes in 2014 indicating an 87 per cent increase during that period which is due in part to continued efforts at improving processes.

    NPA’s Executive Director Finance and Administration Mr Olumide Oduntan said that RIMS solution will improve cargo-based revenue by 52 per cent within a year and 65 per cent subsequently.

    Oduntan also said that the e-ship entry notice initiative introduced by the NPA has improved Gross Tonnage (GRT) based revenue by 38 per cent between 2014 and 2015.

    His words: “The deployment of e-SEN and RIMS Solution by the NPA has blocked all leakages in our operational activities by 95 per cent and the remaining five per cent would be blocked upon the launch of a command and control centre which is expected to go on stream by the end of November, this year.”

    Oduntan added that before the end of November this year, “operational leakages would be a thing of the past in NPA.”

    The National Vice President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Chairman – Dala Inland Dry Port, Kano, and Ahmad Rabiu said that they were happy with the giant stride so far taken by the NPA in its revenue drive..

    “Nigerian Shippers, Cargo owners and shipping lines have a lot to benefit from the Revenue Invoicing Management Systems (RIMS) introduced by the NPA. It is an excellent initiative that will improve efficiency and save so much time and costs. NPA needs to keep it up.

    “We are proud of the NPA and as we know that some of the operators’ ports of the neighboring countries like Cotonou are already crying due to the forex control measures. We must support the NPA and do more as Nigerians to block revenue leakages and distortions, improve efficiency and block channels for corruption in our ports.

    Other stakeholders who spoke with the paper agreed that the introduction of the e-platforms by the NPA would boost their revenue base and make the agency contribute meaningfully to the economic calendar of the Federal Government.

     

  • Customs impounds two bulletproof SUVs

    Customs impounds two bulletproof SUVs

    The Nigeria Customs Service,Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’, Owerri has seized another two bullet proof Prado Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) among other vehicles and contraband goods on Aba/Eleme axis and Agbor-Benin Expressway.

    The seizures came barely a week after the unit seized 100 vehicles with fake documents on the Benin Expressway, Agbor-Asaba and Aba/Owerri highways.

    The Duty Paid Value (DPV) on the seized items is N545,651,050.

    Speaking with The Nation, its Area Controller, Mr David Dimka, said the seized items included 85 bales of second hand clothings with DPV of N8,160,000 and one 40ft container containing 373 bales of used school bags with a DPV of N22,477,200.

    “A total of 13 smuggled vehicles, all brand new models that include: two bullet-proof Prado Jeeps, nine Toyota Landcruiser Prado and three Toyota Corolla cars with DPV of N285,242,000 were seized by the officers of the command.

    “Also, two trucks carrying a total of 1,220 bags of 50kg rice with DPV of N22,814,000 were impounded among other smuggled trucks with DPV of N110,187,000 and many cartons of imported frozen poultry products with DPV of N96,770,840 which we have destroyed,” he said.

    Dimka said while a good number of well meaning Nigerians are appreciative of government’s efforts to rid the nation of corruption in its ramification, some smugglers are unrepentantly bent on circumventing the lofty mission for their selfish interest.

    He warned that Customs will not relent in the discharge of its statutory duties until smugglers are brought to their knees and sent to permanent penury. He added that the seized imported bags of rice neither have National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) registration number nor date of expiration.

    The frozen poultry products, he said, were destroyed to spare innocent and unsuspecting consumers from possible health problem or death.

    He commended officials of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA),  NAFDAC and Department of State Services (DSS) for their sustained support to the Customs in their onslaught against smuggling and enjoined members of the public to supply useful information that will enable the service to attain greater heights in the performances of its functions.

    Dimka said five suspects are helping the Customs in its investigations into the illegal importations of the seized items and warned smugglers that the Customs is better trained, equipped and motivated with necessary logistics to meet its challenges.

     

  • Shippers Council chief makes case for local shipowners in crude oil lifting

    Shippers Council chief makes case for local shipowners in crude oil lifting

    • ‘Review auto policy’

    Can the President Muhammadu Buhari administration end foreign domination of the capital intensive crude oil lifting business and make indigenous shipowners participate in the highly lucrative enterprise? Yes, said the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Hassan Bello, and other stakeholders in the maritime industry.

    Bello, who spoke with The Nation at the weekend, said the involvement of the indigenous shipowners in the trade would be in the national interest.

    Their participation, he noted, would provide gainful employment for many Nigerians, reduce crime, generate more revenue and ensure security at sea and around the ports.

    “I have no iota of doubt that the  administration will involve the indigenous shipowners in the crude oil lifting to provide jobs for Nigerians and put an end to foreign domination of the trade. Everybody in the country knows that it would be more profitable for a Nigerian ship to lift our crude and President Buhari led-administration can be trusted to deliver on that agenda,” he said.

    Also, a member of Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), Mr Fola Badmus, said there are many qualified Nigerians in this field, but that they have no jobs, adding that using foreign vessels was not in the best interest of the nation because when the dependent country has crisis, Nigeria may have challenges lifting its crude.

    He said at the last count, indigenous investments in the sector have created over 40,000 jobs across the hydrocarbon value chain.

    “We will gain about N900 million a day if we use our own indigenous ships to lift crude oil. This is because the country carries more than two million barrels of crude a day at the rate of $2.50 per barrel,” he said, adding that the huge sum would have accrued to the country and created employment for at least 5,000 professionals in the sector.

    “The advantage is that indigenous ships will get their foods, water, tug boats, chandelling, engineers and rags from Nigerians,” he noted.

    Badmus added that the volume of vehicles being imported through the seaports has reduced drastically due to the introduction of the automotive policy by the past administration.

    He corroborated the position of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the yearly general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) that the hike in Customs duty on imported items has created jobs for the neighbouring Benin Republic.

    He alleged that over 70 per cent of fairly-used vehicles, popularly known as Tokunbo, being imported into the market come through the Port of Cotonou, Benin Republic.

    “The volume of imported vehicles into the country has reduced by half since the introduction of the auto policy,” he noted.

    A senior official of one of the terminals at Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos, who craved anonymity, said the policy has affected operators at the ports, urging President Buhari to address the issues to bring succour to terminal operators dealing with imported vehicles.

    “Before the introduction of the policy, we were discharging 5,000 or 6,000 vehicles every month. It is a pity that we are doing less than 1,200 vehicles and we have to service our equipment, pay NPA and salaries at the end of the month.

    “We have noticed that the number of vehicles coming into Cotonou has increased dramatically, so we are losing business while Cotonou is gaining. Everyone can understand what this  means and we know that Cotonou’s population has not increased from its 10 million people.

    “This policy is surely affecting the port industry and this is affecting the economy of the country because we read in one of your reports about few weeks ago that smugglers are using many un-approved routes around Idiroko border in Ogun State to bring their vehicles into the country,” he said.

    He said many Nigerians could not afford to buy brand new vehicles and urged the Federal Government to review the auto policy.

     

  • CTN may hike costs of business

    The Head, Operations Management, Department of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan Atlantic University, Dr. Frank Ojadi, has said the planned re-introduction of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) may increase the cost of doing business at the seaports.

    Ojadi told The Nation in Lagos that he came to that conclusion after carrying out research on the seaports for over five years, adding he was not convinced by the argument of the NSC that the CTN would be at zero cost to shippers.

    “NSC is yet to tell us who bears the cost of the planned scheme. Economic regulation of port operations does not cover issues of this nature,” he said.

    Ojadi alleged that CTN will not  check under-declaration or corruption at the ports as claimed by the NSC.

    He urged the management of the NSC to state the modalities  for issuing the CTN before shipment is done

    “The CTN will be issued by an appointed agent. You cannot write a CTN without inspecting to confirm what has been stuffed into the container. Clean Reports of Inspection (CRI) were issued at foreign ports by appointed agents during the pre-shipment era. I’m not sure I understand why this will be different. During the days of pre-shipment inspection, a Nigerian company once received a container that had goods not meant for that company. But the container had supposedly been inspected and a CRI issued,” he said.

     

  • Shippers Council to block revenue leakages

    Shippers Council to block revenue leakages

    • Cargo Tracking Note coming

    The management of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is to block leakages in the importation of cargoes – as part of its efforts to introduce a new port order.

    The council will convene a joint-stakeholders’ meeting next month to iron out loss of revenue at the ports.

    The meeting, it was gathered, will be held before NSC signs the contract for the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN).

    The introduction of CTN, it was gathered, will not attract additional cost in doing business at the ports.

    Speaking with The Nation at the weekend, NSC Executive Secretary Mr Hassan Bello said the council was introducing the scheme because 80 per cent of cargoes imported into the country are under-declared, leading to loss of huge revenue and unnecessary delays in the cargo release process.

    Bello said the problems associated with quick cargo clearance at the ports would be eliminated with the implementation of the CTN.

    ”Cargo Tracking Note will reduce under-declaration of cargoes by Nigerian shippers because the council would have got information on what is inside every container before the vessel will come to the country.

    ”CTN will also help the Federal Government to identify dangerous goods coming into the country and immediately this is observed by Shippers Council, an alert will be issued to the security agencies and the Nigeria Customs Service for immediate action.

    “When the CTN comes on stream, cargoes will no longer come into the country without the council giving the vessel permission to sail in after having all information like the Gross Tonnage of the ship and the reason the ship is visiting the country, among others,”he said.

    Bello said emphasis would be  on   trade information which will help in clearing and monitoring goods  coming into the country to ensure they are not under-declared.

    His words:“For example, you import furniture but you say it is not furniture but walking sticks. Almost all importers under-declare and this leads to loss of revenue for the government. It also leads to delay and that is why Customs, sometimes, insists on physical examination.

    He said he was happy the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is excited about the scheme.

    “Apart from being a totally paperless exercise, CTN is not going to add to the cost of doing business in Nigeria. Shippers will not pay any charge for the CTN, neither will the government. Information on the cargoes will be shared with the Nigeria Customs Service officials to enable them prepare and pass cargoes out of the port if they are not  dangerous cargoes.

    ”Shipping companies will no longer delay a cargo unnecessarily, because they would have had clear and prior information on what a container is loaded with.

    Bello said the CTN introduced two years back was an aberration, noting that the NPA had no business running the CTN. He said all over the world, Shippers Councils operates CTN because it deals with tracking cargoes. So, when it was given to NPA, ‘’we became a laughing stock because that time we were not very strong.

    “Customs is very key to the success of the scheme and I am so happy we have introduced it to the service, and its management has been very responsive.”

    He said the scheme would not be introduced until stakeholders are adequately informed.

    The Shippers Council, according to him, plans to meet the manufacturers association, NACCIMA trade group, shippers and carriers, shipping companies and terminal operators. “Infact, everybody will be introduced into it because the project  is cardinal to our function as an economic regulator’’.

    “The CTN that was introduced about three years ago brought a lot of delay, and it was not accepted by the industry because it had cost attached, but this one is at no cost to the economy and directly, there is no cost at all to the shippers; that is very important,’’ he said.

    Continuing, he said:“CTN will do three things, it will fasten the process of clearance at the ports in the sense that we have advanced information of the cargo that is coming. It will block pilferages and leakages, you cannot import wrist watches or you cannot import tyres and say they are tiles. If we block that, even the ship sometimes, they cut their gross registered tonnage (GRT) because the amount they are to pay is tied to it. This is the beginning of the new port order and we are talking about transparency, predictability and efficiency.

    “Gone are the days when all the agencies would do things in different direction. Shippers Council has come to introduce supervision, integration, equilibrium, balance and synergy in ports operation. We are going to have a big stakeholders’ meeting where we are going to launch our Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that would be obeyed by everybody,” Bello said.

     

  • Customs impounds 15 bulletproof vehicles in Imo

    Customs impounds 15 bulletproof vehicles in Imo

    • Destroys 5,364 cartons of poultry products

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ has impounded 100 vehicles with fake documents on the Benin Expressway, Agbor-Asaba and Aba/Owerri highways.

    The vehicles included 15 latest models of Toyota Camry (bulletproof car) 2015 model without End-user Certificate, six Land Cruiser Prado Jeep, Land Cruiser VXR, Toyota Fortuner Jeep, Lexus LX 570 and M/Benz CLS 350, all 2014/2015 model worth N346,347,568.

    The seizures came barely one week after the unit seized 42 various contraband with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N197,385,747.

    Aside the exotic vehicles, other items seized  included 5,364 cartons of imported frozen poultry products, which were concealed in Mercedes Benz trucks, with used Jacuzzi bathing tubes, rolls of black polythene nylon bags, and crates of woods lining the walls of the truck, to beat the Customs officers.

    Its Area Controller, Mr Victor Dimka, said four suspects were arrested in connection with the frozen poultry products, while eight were arrested over the smuggled vehicles.

    According to him, the destruction of the poultry products were carried out in the presence of some officials of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Defence Security Service (DSS) in line with “Operation Hawk Descend”, recently-launched by the Nigeria Customs Service to checkmate smugglers of frozen poultry products.

    Dimka also said 300 bags of 50kg rice with DPV of N6 million were also seized by his officers at Ikom border in Cross River State; two suspects were also arrested.

    He said “the suspects are helping the Customs in its investigations into the illegal importations of the seized items.”

    He warned smugglers that the Nigeria Customs Service is better trained, equipped and motivated with necessary logistics to meet its challenges.

     

  • Agents urge govt to review waiver clause

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and importers have urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to review the waivers granted by the Federal Ministry of Finance to boost its revenue.

    ANLCA also said there was a need for the government to remove the waiver clause from the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act (Cabotage Act of 2013).

    This, it said, would improve the business of indigenous ship owners and provide employment for many.

    Its President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said many indigenous shipping firms have closed shop due to the poor implementation of the Cabotage Law.

    His words:“Most of the waivers that were granted by the previous administration were done based on political reasons that have added no economic value to the country in terms of employment generation and its economy.

    “The management of the Nigerian Customs Service should be allowed by the government to scrutinise all requests for waivers and make recommendations to the government before it would be granted.

    “Although, the request for waivers for the development of the gas is necessary, but there is an urgent need to stop granting waivers for those bringing wine, iron rod and other items that can be produced locally, to the country.”

    Olayiwola said the removal of waivers from the CabotageAct would help to alleviate the plight of indigenous ship owners whose businesses have been damaged.

    “The waiver clause has been made more important by some ministry officials to the detriment of the implementation of the Cabotage Law itself,” Olayiwola said, adding: “We are not happy with the kind of vessels that are granted waivers in Nigeria. Instead of giving waivers to specialised vessels in consonance with the dreams of the initiators of the Act, the ministry ends up giving waivers to anchor handling and tankers which the Act did not envisage for waivers.

    “In other climes, they do not leave the administration of waivers to be handled by the ever-busy government officials like the Minister, Permanent Secretary or NIMASA, but rather, it’s an all-inclusive exercise where applications are received by the agency concerned and forwarded to the stakeholders who do the needful and make recommendations to the implementing agency which now carries out the recommended action.”

    An importer, Mr Victor Adeyemo, said the use of waivers and concessions was one of the legitimate tools any government could use for economic development and poverty eradication, but he wondered why the granting of waivers by the government has not decreased the high level or unemployment. He urged the government to review it.

     

     

     

     

  • NPA acquires new tug boats

    NPA acquires new tug boats

    • LCM deepens Lagos Channel to 13.5 metres

    The management of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) has ac-quired two 60-tonne bullard-pull tug boats with computerised engines to ease business in the Lagos Pilotage District.

    With the deployment of the boats, the NPA has increased its fleet in Lagos to 15 – eight tug boats, three pilot cutters and four mooring boats – in response to stakeholders’ complaints of tugs insufficiency in the ports.

    The Managing Director, Lagos Channel Management (LCM), Mr. Danny Fuchs, told The Nation that the tug boats, MT Uromi and MT Majaiya, are the strongest in the country. Each of them came with twin fire fighting pumps, which cover 300 metres and over 600 cubic meters per hour of water and foam.

    Until their acquisition, the biggest tugs in Lagos had capacity not beyond 45-tonne buller pulls, while the biggest in Port Harcourt pilotage district, was not be up to a 50-tonne. And unlike the MT Ohafia and others before it, the new tug boats are slimmer  and narrow bridges (wheel house), inclined exhausts, meaning that they could get closer to large ships without hurting either the ship or themselves, this makes them highly effective in doing their jobs. At full throttle, they can do a speed of at least 14 knots, either forward or backwards.

    “The Uromi and the Majaiya are 2810 model and they are very powerful tug boats; 60-tonne-bullard-pull boats each. They are the biggest in Lagos.

    “They have been commissioned and they have begun work.They provide Lagos with the most modern and best technology in the world. The engine, a MTU, as I told you, is one of the strongest in the world. They  have German engines. They are already working 24/7. The two new built are usually devoted to the extra big ships sailing in, while the other tugs are devoted to the smaller vessels sailing in or out. It is part of the super-efficiency gains that Lagos is enjoying.

    “With the two new-built, Lagos has eight tug boats, three pilot cutters, for the movement of the pilots to meet the arriving ships, at the Fairway Buoy; and then four Mooring boats for the movement of NPA officials from Marina to Harbour Masters, and for other logistics. That brings everything to a total of 15,” he explained, expressing his joy that the towage management company, the Landfall, has preoccupied itself with capacity development.

    “Today, the Landfall alone has employed more than 200 local staff. And we are training and re-training them. We have a ratio of 1:10. About 10 per cent of staff are expatriates. And even most of the expatriate are simply coming and going.They don’t stay here all the time.

    He continued: “The Landfall is working in the light of international standards. And that explains why we need to bring in only certified captains; which we mostly cannot find here.

    “Most Nigerian staff are good. But it is not all of them that have good papers. So, we bring in those without good papers; merge them with those expatriate with good papers; and then we begin to train and retrain those without good papers. They soon become very good. You can understand why our staff are, therefore, in high demand.

    “It is not a one night affairs – we send them for mandatory training. Our pool is highly and enviably stocked.’’

    “We treat our staff with much respect. The 200 Landfall staff are working according to the condition of service, as internationally required- in respect of the boats; and as agreed between the unions and the management. We respect each party’s view,” he said, noting that his organisation’s training programme for seafarers had begun to yield results.

    “Five years ago, we started with 40 cadets, 20 engines and 20 decks. And because there was no good institution that can prepare the cadets in Nigeria for the STCW exams. We spoke with many marine consultants who advised that the best place was Ghana Regional Maritime University. So, we sent all our cadets there. They learnt the theories there. And come here for practice. It has been a theory-practical, theory-practical and, they were going back and forth.

    “But, today, we have produced seven engineers who would soon be up-graded. We have also produced five decks. Of the five decks, three are already master mariners.

    “As for the depth of the channel, we promised that we are not going to have anything less than 13.5 meters depths, even at the lowest tide; and I can assure you that more than 80 per cent of the channel meet this requirement.’’