Maritime

Customs Allegedly Abandons Container Inspection Bay

Published

10 years ago

September 6, 2013

Officers of Nigeria Cus
toms Service (NCS) operating at the Lagos seaport may have abandoned a N640 million ultramodern container inspection facility, which was meant to speed up the clearing process of imported goods.
Consequently, the management of leading global terminal operator, APM Terminals Apapa Limited, which built and handed over the facility to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in 2010, is now calling on Customs management to compel its officers to utilise the facility now lying idle at the Apapa port, as it would enhance the inspection of goods at the port.
Managing Director of APM Terminals Apapa Limited, Mr. Dallas Hampton, who gave the charge while interacting with journalists in Lagos recently said the facility was specially built by his company three years ago to provide decent and conducive office accommodation to customs officials and also serve as facility for the physical inspection of containers related perations at the terminal.
He, however, lamented that despite the huge investment of $4 million (about N640 million) made by his company in building the facility, Customs had refused to use it, rather preferring to use a makeshift open area thus subjecting importers and their agents to the elements of weather.
Hampton said the multi-million-naira Customs building has 14 container examination bays and 235 square metres net office area all built to British standard and fully equipped with modem electronic gadgets and information technology.
He urged the new Customs Area Controller of the command to utilise the facility to reduce the unnecessary exposure of his men and port users to unfriendly weather conditions.
Hampton also disclosed that due to the unusually high rate of physical examination of containers by NCS operatives, APM Terminals Apapa was constructing a new physical inspection facility, which had necessitated a fresh investment of additional $10 million (about Nl.6 billion).
He said the facility, the first of its kind in the world, would utilise a multi- level racking system operated by yard cranes.
The new revolutionary multi-level racking inspection system is being constructed in China and would be delivered to the terminal before the end of this quarter.
Born out tof the need to cope with the abnormally high rate of physical examination of containers by Customs, the facility is part of Phase 3 of the modemisation and upgrading of APM Terminals Apapa, which includes terminal yard redevelopment and expansion, including new staff amenities and customer service building, acquisition of additional container handling equipment and implementation of new terminal operating systems.
Hampton said that the expansion project will also convert the terminal to full
Rubber- Tyred-Gantry (RTG) operations, and includes purchase of additional container handling equipment, a new customer service building, new employee amenities buildings as well as office for Nigeria Customs, and a new Customs container inspection area.
“The project will also include state of the art terminal control systems including a satellite based container positioning system,” he said.
Hampton also said that his company has more than enough cargo handling equipment. He said APM Terminals operates with more than 1.5 times the amount of equipment required for a facility the same size elsewhere.
He said no terminal operator in the country can match the expertise and volume of investment of APM Terminals in Apapa.
He urged importers to embrace honest declaration as a way of reducing the high rate of physical examination of goods at the port, which he said greatly,

Maritime

Minister Charges NRC On Functional Port Community System

Published

4 weeks ago

February 27, 2023

The Tide

Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has called for the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in line with the vision and objectives of Government’s current reforms in the transportation sector.
Sambo said as it is presently constituted, the NRC cannot operate optimally, hence necessary reforms and unbundling have become imperative.
The Minister, who was addressing the management team of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), led on a visit to his office by the CEO, Dr. Armstrong Katang, charged MOFI to drive the unbundling of the NRC to make it more economically viable while offering world class services to Nigerians.
“One of the things I will like to see as the Minister of Transportation, through MOFI is the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). There is a Committee set up to unbundle NRC and I will urge you to work with the existing Committee”, he said.
The MOFI was incorporated under the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Act of 1959 as an asset holding company under the Federal Ministry of Finance.
MOFI is the sole manager of all Federal Government investment interests, estates, easement and rights.
The Minister made reference to the reforms implemented in the ports and the benefits these have brought, noting that such should be carried out in railway sector.
“The NRC, the way it is currently, is the way the ports were prior to concession, prior to the reforms of 2005. Today, even the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) workers are happier about how NPA is today compared to how it was prior to the reforms. This means the reformed NPA is generating more revenues to support its operations and also support its workforce and its pensioners”, he said.
The Minister, who assuaged the fear of job loss as a result of the unbundling, said, “I don’t want the NRC staff to see the unbundling of the NRC as a threat to their jobs. If we have a better performing NRC, then we are going to have better salaries for its workers, better working conditions for its workers, more revenue for the FG and therefore the ability to even build more rail networks”.
Sambo noted that the issue of encroachment on railway property will soon be a thing of the past as “MOFI was berthed for a specific reason and that reason is for the Federal Government to take control of its assets and create optimum value for these assets”.
In his contribution, the Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, extolled the capabilities of the Managing Director, MOFI, Dr. Armstrong, saying he has full confidence that the MOFI team will deliver on the job.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, noted that the MOFI team being made up of young and intelligent people has satisfied the yearning of Nigerians to have young people in positions of responsibility.

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

Maritime

NPA Shops For $800m To Rehabilitate 4 Ports

Published

4 weeks ago

February 27, 2023

The Tide

The Nigeria Ports Author ity (NPA) says its proposed rehabilitation of four Ports in the country will gulp $800 million, its Managing Director (MD), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, has said.
The Ports, according to him, are Tin Can Island Port and Apapa Port in Lagos, Onne Port in Rivers State, rehabilitation of the Escravos breakwaters in Warri Port, and the Calabar Port in Cross River State.
Bello-Koko disclosed this while speaking at the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) Europe and Africa 2023 Regional meeting which held recently in Germany, with the Vice-President of both regions, Jens Meier (Europe) and Micheal Luguje (Africa), hosting IAPH members CEO’s to a top level discussions.
According to the NPA boss, the $800 million loan facility will be repayable in a seven- year period once secured.
According to him,” NPA would have opted to fund the project, but that will reduce its contribution to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
“The rehabilitation would help in achieving the digitalization of all ports in Nigeria as port rehabilitation and remedial works are no more effective. These ports need total rehabilitation”, he stated.

By; Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

Maritime

IBF Delists Nigeria From Unsafe Water List

Published

4 weeks ago

February 27, 2023

The Tide

The International Bargaining Forum (IBF), a global agency, has delisted Nigeria from the unsafe water list.
The removal of Nigeria from the list of countries designated as risky maritime nations by the IBF is a confirmation of the improved global ratings of Security in Nigerian maritime domain as a result of sustained collaborative efforts of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy.
This was contained in a statement by NIMASA’s Assistant Director in charge of Public Relations, Osagie Edwards, a copy of which was made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
According to Osagie, IBF is the body that brings together the International Transport Federation (ITF), and the international maritime employers that make up the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG).
He said IBF listed 5 designated risk areas and applicable benefits in the event of attacks leading to deaths and disability.
He also said the Gulf of Guinea is the second extended war risk zone covering Liberia/Ivory Coast border to 00°N 005°E, to the Angola/ Namibia border.
Reacting to the delisting in a statement, Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, described it as a landmark achievement under the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari,.
“This achievement is a product of a well-structured multimodal policy which has been implemented over the years to fight piracy and other criminalities in Nigerian Waters.
“The Legal instrument called SPOMO Act signed into Law by President Buhari in 2019, the full implementation of the Deep Blue Project by NIMASA, expanded assets and capacity of the Nigerian Navy, enhanced cooperation between NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy, and the regional collaborative efforts under the umbrella of SHADE Gulf of Guinea midwifed by NIMASA, are all policies of the current administration and the benefits are gradually coming to fruition.
“We are focused on ultimately improving and reducing the cost of commercial shipping in Nigeria”, he said.
The statement further disclosed that notable maritime institutions such as the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), have lauded the reduction in piracy in Nigeria following enhanced patrol and relevant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered by NIMASA with other security agencies.

The 2023 IBF list called for double compensation for seafarers who die or suffer disability on the date of attack on vessels in the Gulf of Guinea.

By: Chinedu Wosu