Nigeria: 90 ships wWaiting to berth at ports
Despite efforts by government to decongest the ports, no fewer than 90 ships are presently waiting at Lagos ports and oil terminals to discharge their consignments. The number of vessels waiting to discharge has gone up from 65 when the taskforce was set up three weeks ago to about 90. Data available to our correspondent reveals that out of the 90 ships, 45 are waiting to discharge at the Apapa Port and Tin Can Island Port, while 47 tanker ships are to bring in petroleum products at New Oil Jetty, Petroleum Wharf Apapa, Ibafon, Single Buoy Mooring, Obat, Atlas Cove Jetty, Nispan and many others.
According to the Nigerian Ports Authority, Shipping Position, 17 vessels are waiting to discharge at the APM Terminal, eight for ENL Consortium Limited, 11 for Tin Can Island Container Terminal, two for Port and Cargo Handling Company, as well as six ships for 5-Star Logistics and only one for Josepdam Terminal.
Detailed analysis also revealed that out of the 45 ships waiting to discharge at the Apapa Port and Tin Can Island Port, 32 will be bringing in 13,757 full container loads of various consumer goods and cars.
Moreover, three ships are waiting to discharge 10,933.07 metric tons of fishes, while three other vessels will bring in 77,472 tons of bulk cement and bulk sulphur.
The other vessels will be bringing in items such as sugar, general cargoes, used vehicles and rice.
However, due to the number of vessels waiting to discharge, the number of ships declared to bring in goods in the next three has gone down from 90 to 60.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos during the week, the acting comptroller general of customs, Bernard-Shaw Nwadialor, said the organisation had suspended the Circular 026 which importers and clearing agents say was causing congestion, yet they are not coming forward to take delivery of their consignments.
He pointed out that the Federal Government had given concession for those whose imports have no Form M, people discrepancies, false declaration and under declaration to come forward to position their containers for examination without any fear of arrest, but the cargo owners were yet to respond.
"The taskforce on port decongestion informed me that out of 50 containers that have been examined, only one importer came forward to take delivery of his cargo. In some terminals, no importer whose consignment fall into the category of overtime cargo has shown his face", Nwadialor lamented.
Similarly, despite the plans by the Nigerian Ports Authority to enforce the 'first-come-first-serve' order, shipping agencies are still declaring for vessels that are not ready to discharge their goods, which eventually create artificial congestion at the oil terminals.
According to the Nigerian Ports Authority, Shipping Position, 17 vessels are waiting to discharge at the APM Terminal, eight for ENL Consortium Limited, 11 for Tin Can Island Container Terminal, two for Port and Cargo Handling Company, as well as six ships for 5-Star Logistics and only one for Josepdam Terminal.
Detailed analysis also revealed that out of the 45 ships waiting to discharge at the Apapa Port and Tin Can Island Port, 32 will be bringing in 13,757 full container loads of various consumer goods and cars.
Moreover, three ships are waiting to discharge 10,933.07 metric tons of fishes, while three other vessels will bring in 77,472 tons of bulk cement and bulk sulphur.
The other vessels will be bringing in items such as sugar, general cargoes, used vehicles and rice.
However, due to the number of vessels waiting to discharge, the number of ships declared to bring in goods in the next three has gone down from 90 to 60.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos during the week, the acting comptroller general of customs, Bernard-Shaw Nwadialor, said the organisation had suspended the Circular 026 which importers and clearing agents say was causing congestion, yet they are not coming forward to take delivery of their consignments.
He pointed out that the Federal Government had given concession for those whose imports have no Form M, people discrepancies, false declaration and under declaration to come forward to position their containers for examination without any fear of arrest, but the cargo owners were yet to respond.
"The taskforce on port decongestion informed me that out of 50 containers that have been examined, only one importer came forward to take delivery of his cargo. In some terminals, no importer whose consignment fall into the category of overtime cargo has shown his face", Nwadialor lamented.
Similarly, despite the plans by the Nigerian Ports Authority to enforce the 'first-come-first-serve' order, shipping agencies are still declaring for vessels that are not ready to discharge their goods, which eventually create artificial congestion at the oil terminals.