WAF Shipping Focus: Week 37
Clearing a standard 20-foot container through Lagos ports currently costs almost twice as much as clearing a similar container through Cotonou port in Benin Republic, Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, has revealed. Usman, a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), disclosed this last Thursday in Lagos while delivering the keynote address at the 4th Annual Maritime Lecture of the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN), with the theme, “Nigerian Ports: Ports Modernisation, Charges and the Competitiveness Question.”
The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dayo Mobereola, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to developing indigenous capacity in the Nigerian maritime sector, stressing that effective implementation of the Cabotage regime remains a priority.
Mobereola stated this during a tour of the African Pioneer Lagos, an offshore Diving Support Vessel (DSV) operated by Marine Platforms Limited in Lagos.
The Lagos State Government is set to intensify its enforcement efforts along the Apapa and Lekki Port corridors following recent feedback and an assessment of the traffic situation in the two areas. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Mr Sola Giwa, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos. Giwa in a strategic meeting at the Ministry of Transportation, Alausa, disclosed that gaps were identified in the current enforcement process, necessitating a re-jig of the strategy.
International shipping lines have begun diverting vessels to neighbouring countries because of congestion at Tema and Takoradi, the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana said Monday in Accra.
The diversions matter because they show congestion is already changing shipping patterns, not just threatening to. The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) warned that some importers were exploring the Port of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire as an alternative, and that losing that cargo could become permanent once new supply routes take hold.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA), Dr Pius Akutah, says efficient and competitive seaports are critical to achieving Nigeria’s one trillion dollar economy target by 2030.
Akutah said this on Wednesday in Lagos when the President of the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN), Mr Moses Ebosele, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters to discuss areas of collaboration.
Read more: https://shippingposition.com.ng/efficient-ports-key-to-nigerias-1trn-economy-target-npera-dg/
The Nigerian Navy has applauded the Uyo Federal High Court for convicting and sentencing nine persons for crude oil theft under Operation DELTA SENTINEL.
The commendation is contained in a statement by the Director of Naval Information, Navy Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho, made available to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.
Folorunsho describes the judgement as a significant development in the sustained fight against economic sabotage.
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