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Tag: NPA

  • NPA to sanction shipping lines for arbitrary charges

    The management of Nigerian Ports Authority (‘NPA), has vowed to sanction CMA CGM and any other international shipping line that may introduce arbitrary charges at ports.

    Importers and officials of NPA  who spoke with The Nation yesterday, condemned the $400 congestion surcharge the CMA CGM international shipping line slammed on every container coming to the two ports of Lagos.

    In an email sent to importers and clearing agents at the weekend, the shipping company announced that effective October l5, 2OI8, cargoes from any part of the world on (EMA CGM ships will attract extra “USU 400 / EUR 850 per 20′ Dry and Reefer and USD 400 / EUR 350 per 40′ Dry and Reefer”.

    The shipping line based its action on what it called disruption of its activities based on congestion in the two Lagos ports.

    In the mail sighted by The Nation, the company explained that: “port congestion at Lagos ports, Nigeria, is currently increasing our operational costs and generating severe service disruption for several weeks.”

    The mail added that: “CMA CGM will therefore implement the following Emergency Congestion Surcharge on Lagos import cargo, effective October 15th, 2018 (B/ L date) for FMC trades

    The company also indicates that the surcharge is payable on categories of cargoes including dry and break bulk.

    But the Acting General-Manager Corporate and Strategic Communications of ‘NPA, Mr Isa Suwaid said the new charges cannot stand following the authority’s checks, which revealed that some of the shipping companies have failed to fully comply with the directive to acquire and operate holding bays as they have either failed to utilise their holding bays at all or do not have adequate capacity to handle the volume of containers that they deal with.

    The NPA noted that some of the companies had also been found to import a larger number of containers than empty containers exported thereby making the country a dumping ground for empties.

    “These conducts have contributed to the persistent congestion around the Lagos Port Complex and the Tin Can Island Port, spreading to other parts of the Lagos metropolis where truck drivers with no immediate business at the ports now park their trucks.

    “As from tomorrow (today), the authority will review the level of compliance to its directives and determine further actions in addition to this, the NPA will henceforth embark on a regular compliance check of the operations of holding bays by shipping companies and terminal operators and defaulters will be sanctioned.

    Importers and clearing agents have also called on ‘NPA and the Shippers Council to save them from the Shylock shipping companies operating at the nation’s seaports.

  • Wike, Shell, NPA to meet over SNEPCO’s relocation to Lagos

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is to meet with the top management of Shell Petroleum, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) and other relevant stakeholders over the planned relocation of the Supply Base of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) from the Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne to Lagos.

    The meeting is coming on the heels of an aborted protest by the Rivers State Youth Federation.

    Youths and women group in Rivers State have staged peaceful protests to express their displeasure over the planned relocation of the SNEPCO Supply Base from Onne, saying it will have adverse economic and security implications on the state and the entire Niger Delta region.

    On Wednesday, the Directorate of State Security (DSS) in Rivers State and a former Niger Delta warlord and the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom in Okirika Local Government Area of Rivers State, King Ateke Tom, intervened in the matter and stopped a massive protest planned by the Rivers State Youth Federation led by its President, Comrade Saviour Patrick.

    Ateke Tom and the Rivers State DSS Director, held a meeting with Comrade Patrick and representatives of SNEPCO, where it was agreed that the youths would shelve their planned protest, while SNEPCO would suspend the planned relocation until after the meeting with Wike.

    The Nation gathered that both the DSS and the Rivers State Government are concerned about the long term security implication for the state should the relocation to Lagos be executed.

    A source said the youths are upset although the DSS Director told them there was not much they could do, but he is worried that the situation does not degenerate into renewed militant activities in the state.

    The source added that this would not be the first time Shell had attempted to relocate its business from Rivers State. He hinted that Shell’s decision was likely more political than commercial.

    In August, more than 1,000 youths under the aegis of the Onne Youths Council (OYC) staged a peaceful protest at the SNEPCO Supply Base, asking the company to rescind its decision to relocate the base from the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone to Lagos port.

    The President of OYC, Comrade Philip John Tenwa, who led the peaceful protest, said the planned relocation would lead to the loss of more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs.

    The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions condemning the planned relocation of the SNEPCO Supply Base and also requested relevant authorities to intervene in the matter.

    He said protests are intended to draw attention of the Nigerian government and indeed the world to the plan by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) to relocate its Supply Base from the Onne Port to Lagos. Indeed, SNEPCO last week surreptitiously directed that all its property and equipment including turbines, engine spares and miscellaneous equipment spares be loaded into containers and moved out of the Onne Port, where it had operated for more than 20 years, to another port in Lagos.

    Tenwa said: “This move by SNEPCO has serious and far-reaching implications for the Onne community and indeed the entire Rivers State. This is because SNEPCO, which is the operator of the Bonga field, at present, supports more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs at its Supply Base in Onne. There are also several small businesses and contractors whose businesses and fortunes are tied to SNEPCO.”

    SNEPCO workers, in a press release described the planned relocation as hurried and ill-advised and against the interest of the Niger Delta region.

    The press release signed by one Edward Otaru reads: “We, the affected operations staff and expatriates of SNEPCO wish to bring the attention of the Federal Government and well-meaning Nigerians of a plan by the management of our company to forcefully relocate our operations from Onne, Port Harcourt to Lagos.

    “The hushed, hurried but forceful relocation order emanated under a strange and suspicious condition, as it was neither discussed with the staff nor backed by any justifiable reasons.

    “We decided to bring this hurried relocation order to the notice of the government and the general public because of its implication on our families and friends who might suffer unnecessary dislocation and also its implication on the Niger Delta region.

    “The ill-advised plan to move men and materials from the Niger Delta region to Lagos is also contrary to the directive of the Federal Government, which in 2017 asked oil companies to retain their headquarters in their operational bases in the Niger Delta region.”

    The workers called on the Federal Government to halt the planned movement in the interest of jobs and development of the Niger Delta region.

    The Paramount Ruler of Onne Community, King John Dennis Osaronu, also recently called on SNEPCO to rescind its planned relocation from the community.

  • Due process followed in Escravos contract , says NPA

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday said due process was followed in  the contract of the dredging of Escravos Bar in Warri.

    The agency, in a statement, said all processes enumerated in the Procurement Act, 2004 were followed in the award of the contract.

    The statement reads: “However, after due consideration of our obligations to be accountable to the people of Nigeria that we serve, the Authority has decided to provide the following information in response to the spurious allegations and campaign of calumny being spread in the media.

    “The first point to make is that the Authority is guided by provisions of the Procurement Act in all its procurement processes and that not in the Warri contract or any other contract for that matter, have we gone against the provisions of the Law.

    “In addition to that, all procurements by the Authority is subject to the supervision/approval of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the authority received the necessary approvals before going ahead with the award of the contract for the dredging Warri Channel.

    “All arithmetic computations so done by the Authority are in line with the PPA which so permits for the procuring entity to do such and consequent documentations of the computations were submitted to BPP for no objection which was obliged.

    “The Authority, upon receipt of the petition alleging that Dredging International Nigeria Limited had been convicted by a law court in Switzerland, sought the legal counsel of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and requested an investigation of the petition by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    “In addition to this, although Dredging International Nigeria Limited provided us with a sworn affidavit in support of claims that they were different from the company that was so convicted, the Authority engaged a legal practitioner who embarked on an independent investigation of the petition and the claims of the company.

    “This investigation revealed that allegations that Messers Dredging International Services Nigeria Limited had been convicted in a law court in Switzerland for corrupt practices involving some officials of the Nigerian government including the NPA were incorrect. The Company so convicted in the Swiss Court is Dredging Cyprus Ltd which is a co-subsidiary of DISN. The two companies have different legal personalities as so recognized by the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2004. The conviction of a subsidiary company indeed is not the conviction of all companies within a group of companies. In addition, none of the directors so convicted for complicity by the court in Switzerland is on the board of Dredging International Nigeria Limited. The result of these investigations was made available to the BPP.

    “Nevertheless, the BPP itself set up an independent investigation of the petition and came to the conclusion that the company was eligible to participate in the bidding process.

    “There have also been allegations of conflict of interest coming from the fact the Managing Director of the NPA alongside some of the Directors are on the board of Bonny Channel Company, a joint venture set up as a long term structure for the continuous management, maintenance and provision of navigational aids of the Bonny channel with some Directors of the awardee.  But these directors are on the board of the BBC on the strength of their current appointment. The NPA is chair of this JV by virtue of its ownership of 60 percent shareholding in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and our directors do not have any private interests in the company.

    “The other thing to say is that the company that has continued to promote this extensive blackmail of the NPA is part of the consortium whose contract was terminated for having claimed to execute works of $34.6mill in the Calabar Channel out of which $12.5mill has been paid without evidence of work done. The Nigerian Government is currently in court with this consortium seeking for the refund of the Authority’s $12.5mill for work claimed to have been done without evidence.

    “The Authority urges the good people of Nigeria to disregard this attempt to drag it in the mud by an organisation, which is surely still dazed by our audacity to terminate the Calabar Channel contract and take them to court for the refund of monies collected.

    “We reiterate our commitment to transparent operations for the ultimate benefit of the Nigerian economy and thank all Nigerians for their support.”

  • FG to institute Wreck Insurance Policy soon – MD NPA

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says Federal Government will soon institute a Wreck Insurance Policy (WIP) for vessels arriving in Nigerian ports for operational efficiency and navigational safety.

    The NPA Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Usman, made this known in Lagos on Friday while addressing major stakeholders of the nation’s maritime sector at a one-day Quarterly Summit of the Ports Consultative Council (PCC).

    Usman said that the policy would provide avenue for the port management to evacuate abandoned vessels in the entire nation’s territorial water.

    She also said that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had granted approval for a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) agreement of N72 billion for the ports access roads in Apapa and Tin Can Island.

    On the gridlock on port access roads, she said that only trucks that were housed in the proposed trailer parks would be allowed entry into the port locations soon.

    “The management is to deploy an electronic call-up system that allows access to the ports only when they are needed.

    “The Apapa Wharf road reconstruction project has reached 85 per cent completion.

    Read Also: Apapa Wharf road ready in September – NPA

    “The road will be fully completed in the next four to six weeks period,” Usman said in a statement.

    She said that the efficient utilisation of inland waterways was key to decongestion of ports access road.

    Usman said that a company, ‘Connect-Rail’, which was engaged by the authority to provide barge evacuation, was currently moving cargoes and several tons of containers between Ikorodu and the terminals through the water.

    “The management of NPA was desirous on how it could use the waterways farther even away from Ikorodu to other locations to ease the congestion of Apapa and Tin Can Island axis,” she said.

    Chief Kunle Folarin, the Chairman of the Council, said that the meeting was strategic and an avenue to examine issues relating to the operations of the port industry, especially as it concerned port operators.

    Folarin said that at the end of the meeting, the council always came up with a blue print that would enhance efficient port operations and management.

    He described Usman in three words of Decisive, Resourceful and Engaging.

    Folarin lauded the NPA boss for addressing issues that affected port operations, adding that the issues were germane for efficient port administration.

  • Why there’s low cargo in Eastern ports, by NPA

    The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday identified lack of infrastructure as one of the factors responsible for low cargo throughput in the Eastern ports.

    NPA Managing Director Hadiza Usman made the observation at the Nigeria Port Consultative Council meeting in Lagos.

    She identified insecurity, depth of the ports and roads and rail infrastructure in states where these ports are located and links roads to warehouses within and out of the area as challenges.

    Usman said for the Eastern ports to attract cargo, there must be improvement on infrastructure that would aid port transaction in the zone.

    “There is no need for shippers to en route their cargoes to places where they will find it difficult to reach their warehouses and end users.

    “There has been this issue of restiveness in the area and no investor will like to toy with his or her goods, hence the prefer Lagos ports where security is guaranteed unlike in the eastern ports.

    “Calabar port is strategically located to be able to service the North-East and the North-West, but the link roads to the area from Calabar is bad. Articulated vehicles cannot ply the route,’’ Usman said.

    She appealed to the relevant government agencies responsible for infrastructure-related development to assist the authority in the provision of the needed infrastructure for smooth cargo operations in the zone.

    The managing director also called on the coastal communities to ensure security and less restiveness among the youths in order to attract investment in their area.

    Usman assured investors that the authority was working in partnership with the Nigerian Navy and the Marine Police to restore sanity on Nigerian waters.

  • NPA lifts suspension on shipping firms

    The management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday, lifted  the suspension order it placed last week, on four Shipping lines, which included the foreign giant, the Mearsk Line and the Cosco.

    Its Assistant General Manager Corporate & Strategic Communications, Mr Issah Suwaid, said  the new directive was sequel to a review of the suspension order, in a bid to enable the affected firms acquire additional holding bays and end the gridlock on Apapa and Tin—Can Island ports roads.

    “The management ordered the restoration of services to the four shipping companies whose operations were suspended for their failure to comply with the directive of acquiring and operating holding bays for their containers.

    “However the affected shipping companies have now been given two weeks, beginning from Friday July 20th 2018 to comply with four conditions to ensure sustainable relationship.

    “Among the conditions are that the affected companies must increase the capacity of their Holding Bays ranging from 1,800 TEUs to 7,500 TEUS; that the affected companies will sign-off on the volume capacity of the Holding Bays verified at the end of the grace period and that at the expiration of the two weeks an inspection will be conducted to ascertain compliance and that the Authority warned, thereafter further sanctions will be applied on failure to meet the said conditions.

    “It would be recalled that a fortnight ago, shipping services of Maersk Line, Cosco Shipping, APS and Lansal were suspended by the NPA for their inability to upgrade their Holding Bays capacities,” he said.

    The suspension, Suwaid said, was for 10 days in the first instance. The two weeks period of grace granted to the four affected shipping companies, the image maker said, was sequel to a meeting the agency held with officials of the companies over the weekend.

    “The decision by the NPA to grant the period of grace was after due consideration of their presentations at the meeting and a subsequent joint inspection on their existing facilities.

    “A formal letter dated 20th July, 2018 informing the accepted companies of the review of the suspension order signed by the General Manager, Marine & Operations, Mr. Joshua Asanga on behalf of the Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, has since been despatched,” Suwaid he said.

  • NPA hosts International Maritime Conference

    The Nigerian Ports Authority will host the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) Africa Regional Conference in Abuja, Nigeria between 17 – 19 September.

    According to information obtained from the Local Organising Committee, the theme for the conference which holds at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, will be “African Ports and Hinterland Connectivity,” and will draw key stakeholders in port and harboursfrom across the African continent and other parts of the world.

    The statement by chairman of the organising committee, Mrs Ugo Madubuike, said: “The IAPH Africa Conference which will be declared open by the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria will assemble key experts and stakeholders in the port logistics and transport industry to provide a deeper understanding of the concept of port hinterland connectivity, assess the present landscape of Africa’s port sector and the challenges faced in hinterland connectivity, discuss the experiences of port hinterland connectivity in other parts of the world compared to Africa, explore possible critical solutions, and recommend best home-grown models that would enable Africa to improve on its port hinterland connectivity and intraregional trade.”

    The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman was elected Vice President, IAPH (Africa Region) in July 2017.

    The conference will attract local participation from Nigeria’s maritime and trade sectors and international participation from  the World Trade Organisation, the International Maritime Organisation, UNCTAD, various African trade corridors.

    The lead sponsors  are Intels Nigeria Ltd and Greenview Limited of the Dangote Group. Other sponsors are the Dredging International Services Nigeria, Depasa Marine, NIMASA and the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

     

     

     

  • NPA bans empty containers from ports

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director (MD) Hadiza Bala Usman has warned truck drivers and owners against bringing empty containers to the ports.

    Henceforth, such containers must be taken to the shipping firms’ holding bays.

    Ms Usman is said to have directed operators to stop using their terminals for storing empty container and no truck driver or owner must be allowed by any official of the NPA and terminal operators to bring empty containers into the ports after delivering goods to importers.

    Ms Usman took the step to manage traffic in and around the ports.

    Over 40 per cent of the space at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and the Tin-Can Island Port is occupied by empty containers.

    Ms Usman also ordered terminal operators to declare the number of empty containers in their terminals.

    Most of the firms at the ports have no holding bays, despite the huge money they have generated since the ports were concessioned in 2006.

    The NPA, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Shippers Council  and the Nigeria Customs Service, it was alleged, do not have a record of the empty containers in most terminals.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, a senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMoT), who  pleaded not to be named, urged the government to support NPA in stopping operators from using terminals for storing.

    “The Federal Government must support Ms Usman in her efforts to bring sanity to our ports. The shipping companies who are the owners of the empty containers must acquire holding bays that will receive them. The empty containers are to be evacuated to port terminals for export based on call-up system to be managed by the shipping firms and terminal operators,’’ the official said.

    Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi and the NPA, the  official said, should direct operators to publish weekly the number of cargoes with empty containers, at the ports. Most of the operators, the official alleged, connived with some NPA officials and shipping firms to keep containers at their terminals to create the impression that the ports are busy.

    Lagos State Shippers’Association Chairman Mr. Jonathan Nicol said  shipping firms were required to have bays. He added that most of the containers were in bad shape and could no longer be returned to Europe.

    Nicol said the containers were bought at cheaper prices to ship goods to Nigeria where they were  dumped. “Nigeria is not a dumping ground for containers. Now that there is no space in the ports for these containers, the shipping firms need to get holding bays and if they don’t have, they should hire,” he said.

    He also said the country was losing N1 trillion yearly through cargo diversion to neighbouring countries due to the gridlock on the ports’ access roads.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) immediate past president Prince Olayiwola Shittu advised shipping firms to get holding bays or rent them, adding: “There are so many companies with holding bays that are looking for people to rent them.”

    Shittu said the step being taken by the NPA would save importers demurrage on containers trapped in Apapa gridlock for days and reduce cost of goods in the market.

    Some truck drivers said the challenge was that there was no truck park in Apapa, resulting in a situation where trucks were parked by the roadside and on bridges  waiting to be called up to bring their empty containers into the terminals.

    An importer, Chief Onasanya Ladejobi, expressed concern over the Apapa gridlock, which hinders access to the ports.

    Ladejobi said the bad roads were hampering trade and affecting delivery of cargoes. He said the empty containers must be moved to their ports of origin and  ports infrastructure be revamped to revive the economy.

    The business community,  according to him, is unhappy that measures adopted have not  yielded results to free the roads leading to LPC and the Tin-Can Island Port.

    The business community and port users, he said, were waiting for what he called “positive action” from Amaechi soon, adding that the quick rehabilitation of the road must be one of the minister’s major priorities in salvaging the economy.

    The Federal Government, states and stakeholders, he said, should work together to find a lasting solution to the problem.

    Ladejobi called for the promotion of agro-allied products export to free the ports and boost the economy, noting that he was not happy that about 90 per cent of containers traffic left the ports empty.

    The importer urged the public and private sectors to support government’s efforts at diversifying the economy.

    X-raying the ports’ last quarter operations, he said  there was  the  need to complement the NPA’s efforts at massive investments in infrastructural renewal and automation of port operations by generating enough export cargo to move empty containers out of the ports.

    The NPA, he said, must collaborate with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and Abuja Commodities & Exchange Commission in the promotion of solid minerals and agro-allied products to boost the economy. The Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and Nigerian Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACIMA), he said, must also work with the NPA in tandem with the Federal Government policy on export promotion.

  • NPA sanctions Maersk, four other shipping lines

    The Nigerian Ports Authority has announced a 10-day suspension of the services of four shipping companies.

    A statement signed by Assistant General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications Division of the organisation, Isah Suwaid, on behalf of the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, said the move was part of efforts being made to resolve the protest by truck drivers at the Lagos Port Complex and the Tin Can Island Ports, Lagos “in the first instance.”

    The affected shipping companies whose suspension takes effect from Saturday July 14, 2018, according to the statement, include Maerskline, Cosco Shipping, APS and Lansal.

    The suspension of the shipping lines, Suwaid said, followed the authority’s checks which revealed that the four companies had failed to fully comply with the directive to acquire and operate holding bays, “as they have either failed to utilise their holding bays at all or do not have adequate capacity to handle the volume of containers that they deal with.”

    He said that some of the affected companies had been found to import more number of containers than the empty containers exported, thereby making the country a dumping ground for empties.

  • 11 ships arrive Lagos ports with petrol, other products

    No fewer than 11 ships carrying various products are at Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports waiting to berth, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said on Wednesday in Lagos.

    It said three of the vessels contained petrol, while the remaining eight ships would berth with aviation fuel, uria, soya beans, bulk gas, diesel and fertilizer.

    The NPA stated that 32 other ships carrying buckwheat, vehicles, containers, steel, frozen fish, steel buckwheat, base oil and bulk gas were expected at the ports between July 3 and July 30.

    Read Also: Tanker spills fuel on Lagos road

    The other products expected are: base oil, bulk fertiliser, kerosene, general cargo and petrol.