Lines battle worsening West Africa congestion

THE HIGH level of port congestion in West Africa is getting no better. Indeed, it’s probably getting worse, according to MSC’s marketing manager Glen Delve, who intends to do a reconnaissance mission next month to suss out the scene in the region. Although almost all the lines calling at the ports in the region hiked their congestion surcharges at the beginning of last December, that does nothing to improve the situation – except to partially compensate the shipping lines for their lengthy delays, and vessel dead-time, as they park off the West African ports waiting for a berth. The problem, said Delve, is a lack of portside equipment and poor management and worker skills – all further complicated by bumbling bureaucratic inefficiency. Pointing to the port of Luanda in Angola – which along with Lagos in Nigeria is the main offender – Andrew Thomas, MD of Ocean Africa Container Line (OACL), reckoned that his line was losing about 20%-25% of its annual voyage time on the trade because of 30-day delays at the port. He also calculated that this delay factor had cost OACL about US$800 per teu and the current US$400/teu surcharge allowed his line to retrieve only part of its multi-million loss each year. Although the surcharges applied by the lines vary from port to port – they almost all hit the main culprits, Luanda and Lagos, with a surcharge of US$400/teu – and US$800 for a forty foot (feu). The only escapee is CMA CGM, which – in association with its sister and West African specialist line Delmas Line – calls at both the ports serving Lagos, and gains a bit more flexibility than its less well-provided fellow lines. Other main ports in the region face surcharges of about: Tema US$105/teu; Onne US$105; Cotonou US$140; Dakar US$105; Pointe Noire US$140; Lomé US$70; Cabinda and Lobito US$150.