THE NATION TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2014
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THE NATION
BUSINESS MARITIME
e-mail: maritime@thenationonlineng.net
As busy as the Lagos ports are, they were not patronised by large vessels in 2013. Why? The shallowness of their waters. Will things be better in 2014? According to operators, unless the Federal Government addresses this challenge, Nigeria will continue to be an outsider in the multibillion dollar international maritime trade. OLUWAKEMI DAUDA reports.
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PERATORS are not satisfied with development in the maritime industry in 2013. They are calling on the Federal Government to develop the Lagos ports to serve as a hub for cargoes coming to West and Central Africa in 2014. They believe that a well managed deep seaport can boost the economy and create jobs for millions. The hike in rice duty, the restriction on fish and cement importation, new and fairly used vehicles duty, long cargo dwell time, depth of ports, bill on transport reform, are some of the reference points in the industry. Others are the need to review the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Nigeria Railway Corporattion (NRC) Acts, extension of destination Inspection Scheme, meeting the International Ships and Ports Facilities Security (ISPS) code and the proposed ban on fish importation.
100% rice levy and 10% import duty The imposition of a 10 per cent import duty on rice and the increase on its rice levy from 50 per cent to 100 per cent early last year, have serious effect on the break bulk terminals as handling of rice cargo accounts for more than half of their revenue. Investigation revealed that hike in import duty on rice, the restriction imposed on the importation of fish and on cement, took a huge toll on the income of the breakbulk terminals as their revenue dropped by over 60 per cent. When contacted, some of the operators of the major break bulk cargo terminals in Lagos and Port Harcourt, including ENL Consortium, Greenview Development Nigeria Limited, Joseph Dam, and PTOL Terminal, said they have not handled rice vessels since March, last year due to the 100 per cent rice levy and 10 per cent import duty. A senior official of one of the terminals in Apapa, who craved anonymity, told The Nation that as a result of the measure announced in February last year through a circular signed by Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Director, Trade and Exchange, W. D. Gotring, very few rice vessels berthed at the ports last year as rice shipments meant for the markets were channelled to the port of Cotonou, Benin Republic and later smuggled into the country. Restriction imposed on imported fish The silent and abrupt ban on importation of fish with effect from Novermebr 1, last year, crippled the operations of most of the terminals in the ports as fish represents the second highest revenue earner for the operators. Speaking in Lagos, the General Manager of the major break bulk terminal in the country, ENL Consortium, Mr Mark Walsh, said: “The government banned fish importation since October 31, last year. Before we were doing 20,000 tonnes of fish every month, but now, that is gone. Any bill of laden after that date cannot be brought to Nigeria,” he said. A fish trader in Lagos, who does not want his name in print, said with yearly fish demand estimated at 2.66 million metric tons (MMT), Nigeria produces about 0.78MMT leaving a demand-supply gap of about 1.8MMT. “From the ban on cement to the increase in the tariffs on rice and now fish is no longer coming in, it
Still a no-go area for large vessels
• Umar
• MD NPA Habib Abdullahi
• Abdullahi
• Akpobolokemi
has been very difficult. We have lost up to 800,000 tonnes since January, this year. But you see rice in the market. All the vessels bringing rice are going to Cotonou and the rice is somehow making its way back to Nigeria,” he alleged. Operators stressed the need for the government to look at the allegation to find a lasting solution to the policy this year. President-General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Mr Anthony Nted, said the review would also reduce smuggling of the commodity.
pansion plans, and both TICT and Ports and Cargo Handling Services are operating almost with RTGs (rubber tired gantry cranes), which have dramatically increased the yard capacity. The average dwelltime days (the time spent between a container being discharged and leaving the terminal) has also gone down by about 40 per cent.
tional Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC). The review of the Acts, Lagos said, has become necessary to encourage active participation of the private sector and state governments in the development of water and rail transportation in the country. Operators said they would see if the review would be carried out or not this year.
Gross Registered Tonnage mainly due to the constant capital and maintenance dredging of the channels at the nation’s ports by the Lagos Channel Management (LCM) and Bonny Channel Company (BCC).
New auto policy Last year, the Federal Government introduced a new auto policy by hiking the import duty payable on both new and fairly used vehicles to 70 per cent. In a memo sent by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy andFinance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to the ComptrollerGeneral of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Dikko Inde Abdullahi, last year, she directed that imported fully built unit (FBU) cars would henceforth attract 35 per cent duty and 35 per cent levy. But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) joined other stakeholders to condemn the policy, saying it is capable of inflicting severe pains on Nigerians. Speaking in Kaduna at the union’s 12th Harmattan School, its President, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, berated the government for its penchant for initiating policies capable of inflicting pains on the people. Also, top auto dealers, acting under the Auto Manufacturers’ Representatives Group in Nigeria protested against the new policy. The group protested to President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, of acting unilaterally without recourse to those that would be affected by the policy. The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) also condemned the policy, describing it as “harsh and not well thought through”. Stakeholders said since the government is adamant in implementing the policy, they were waiting to see how it would be used to grow the automotive industry this year. Terminal operators Many terminal operators made major investments in the early part of last year. These have resulted in reduction in ports congestion. APMT Apapa early last year initiated the final phase of their ex-
Long dwell time of cargoes The long dwell time of cargoes at the ports is one of the major problems of the ports last year. Investigations revealed that it takes importers and agents up to 21 days to take delivery of their containers from the ports despite the 24-hour port operation introduced by the government. Findings showed that the major factors responsible for the high dwell time is poor clearing process and graft. Bill on transport reform The Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, said last year that the Federal Government had initiated a Transport Reform Bill aimed at encouraging the participation of states and local governments in the sector. Stakeholders said they want a synergy between the three tiers of government this year to boost transportation. NIMASA In the first half of the year, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) shut down the operations of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) over unpaid levies. Its Director-General, Patrick Akpobolokemi, insisted that the money must be paid. On capacity building, NIMASA sent about 1,400 cadets to various maritime institutions abroad for maritime training programmes. The cadets were those shortlisted from the applicants examined and screened for the 2013/2014 admission into various maritime training institutions abroad to study nautical sciences, marine engineering and naval architecture up to degree level. The cadets are sponsored wholly by NIMASA under a new scheme of the Nigeria Seafarers’ Development Programme (NSDP) – a programme initiated pursuant to its statutory responsibility of human capacity development in the nation’s maritime industry. Lagos seeks review of NIWA, NRC Acts Last year, the Lagos State government called for the immediate repeal of the laws setting up the Na-
10-year tax holiday Last year, President Jonathan said the Federal Government would offer a 10-year tax holiday for local tyre manufacturers. The President made the declaration at the opening ceremony of the Lagos International Trade Fair. Terminal operators and clearing agents urged the government to put in place measures that would prevent the abuse of the tax holiday this year. Shippers Council The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) made frantic efforts to checkmate arbitrary port charges at the sea ports. It held a meeting with terminal operators and others to address port charges to ensure that nobody was made to pay for what he has not incurred. The council promised shippers the establishment of an acceptable port charges in a manner that neither importers and exporters, nor the port concessionaires would lose money. It said it would intervene in tariffs, benchmarking and service delivery. Customs takes over inspection at ports The Federal Government ceded the Destination Inspection Scheme hitherto handled by Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited, Societe Generale de Surveillance and Global Scansystems Limited to the Nigeria Customs Service. Also, Customs said last year that it had trained over 300 staff in scanner equipment management, to ensure that the nation enjoys a better scanning regime, after the take over. The management has also selected and delivered these courses to over 300 NCS officers, and this is reinforced by a programme of coaching by experts in operating scanners for customs around the world. In last quarter of the year, Customs introduced the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) to replace the Risk Assessment Report (RAR). Operators said they were willing to assist Customs in making PAAR a success. Gross tonnage of vessels The ports recorded increase in the
NPA and channel maintenance Record from NPA indicated that LCM dredged 53.5 million cubic metres of sand at the Lagos port channel since 2006, while a total of 24 critical wrecks were removed, while the volume dredged by BCC from 2006 to date is 43.5 cubic metres with 14 wrecks removed at the port channels outside Lagos. Also, Bonny channel from its previous 12.50 metres draught has been deepened to 14.30 metres thereby increasing its width from 215 meters to 230 metres. The successful wreck removal campaign being undertaken by the NPA also ensured safe navigation of vessels and protection of marine environment among other economic benefits. Apart from crude oil terminals, 1,366 ocean going vessels with total Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of 34,640,530 gross tonnes called at Nigerian Ports in the third quarter of last year. The Lagos Port Complex (LPC), recorded a GRT of 9,263,180 gross tonnes showing an increase of 12.3 per cent over the third quarter of 2012 figure 8,250,315 gross tonnes, while 369 ocean going vessels were handled at the port within the first quarter. Also, Rivers Port Complex recorded a total GRT of 1,371,846 gross tonnes, reflecting a decrease of 11.2 per cent as against 1,526,002 achieved in the third quarter of last year, with 108 ocean-going vessels handled at the end of the third quarter. The Onne Port complex recorded a gross registered tonnage of 9,709,984 gross tonnes, 15.7 per cent decline compared with 11,238,781 gross tonnes, leaving the port with 219 ocean going vessels in the period under review. Calabar Port complex recorded a GRT of 751,553 gross tonnes showing a growth of 15 per cent over 653, 077 recorded in the corresponding period of 2012. It also handled 35 vessels within the period under review. In a related development, the Delta Port Complex handled a GRT of 2,346,612 showing an increase. However, importation of general cargo through Onne Port in Rivers State was reduced by 30 per cent; this was largely compensated with an increase of 60 per cent in volume of gas.