At one stage 60 vessels were
awaiting berths, writes Ray Smuts
A FULL-scale war on large-scale port corruption and importation of undeclared goods has led to major disruption in the port of Lagos with vessel turnaround times stretching to as long as nine days.
The law enforcing implementation of a "100% inspection policy" has been enacted virtually overnight, say shipping sources, leading to a shortage of resources and abandonment of any existing systems once in place.
One that has fallen away is the planning and packing of containers per vessel so that boxes are literally being stacked where there is space. This means locating a container can take days. A further problem is that customers have not come forward to accept cargo in instances where goods have obviously been incorrectly declared.
The local port authorities have allowed some shipping lines to move containers to satellite yards at their own expense, as is the case with Safmarine, and they (the lines) are having to use their own equipment to recover boxes due to the port's equipment being inadequate or unserviceable.
Guy Wilkes, Mitsui O.S.K.Lines' representative in the West African port, reported last week that the average turnaround time was currently between eight-and-a-half and nine days and that seven vessels were out in the bay awaiting berths.
Once moored, they could count on approximately six boxes being moved an hour due to no discharge area being available.
FTW learnt that payment over and above port charges was an ever-present dilemma due to corrupt officials. One example was money having to be paid - up to US$400 - to break up a specific stack in order to locate a box.
Although the port authorities are trying to solve the crisis, it seems to be worsening due to inefficient
systems and resources with little hope of a short-term solution.
Safmarine's West African trade desk reports that when the situation was at
its worst up to 60 vessels were awaiting berths. Currently, most of those lying at anchor are breakbulk carriers with container vessels being less affected. (Safmarine maintains a weekly express service from Europe and South Africa to West Africa).
Another problem at Lagos is that customs only works six hours a day (from 10:00 to 16:00) whereas their
colleagues work 24 hours a day at at Port Harcourt, another Nigerian port.
