In the News:
Local Port News and Foreign Maritime Headlines
NPA Unveils 25-year Port Development Masterplan.
The managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA) Malam Abdul Salam Mohammed, has unveiled a 25-year port development masterplan as the “surest permanent solution to solving port congestion”.
In a press release made available to DDH, the NPA Malam Mohammed said this plan would make future port development in Nigeria “strategic and anticipatory”.
The NPA had recently advertised advertised for expression of interest for the provision of consultancy services for the development of a national Port Master Plan, to which 18 bids from 15 companies, including Royal Haskoning of Netherlands, CARES Consultant of UK and CPCS Company of Canada.
When Mohammed unveiled the port master plan project to stakeholders in Lagos, he justified it by saying that if port development had been strategic in the past, Nigeria would be finding herself saddled with problems of congestion.
According to him, “The long time solution is in having the master plan which we are working on now. We feel that if port development is strategic, we could not have been facing the challenges we are facing now. Through the plan we can project into the future and make plans to anticipate challenges. Through the plan we need to do an assessment of our economy and see what it could be in the next five(5) years as well as liaise with policy makers to appreciate their thinking in terms of policy position relating to the rnaritime sector and build port development around that premise".
He decried a situation where ad hoc measures were used to build Nigerian ports saying that “apart from the early ports development between 1913 and 1915, most of our ports development were ad hoc in nature because the country was responding to crisis situation”.
Sequel to mounting congestion: NPA woos ships to eastern ports
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is wooing RoRo and container ships which are now caught up in the heavy queue for berths at the Lagos seaports to discharge at the eastern ports and gain some concessions which were not however mentioned.
In a press release from the public affairs department of NPA, the assurance was attributed to the managing director, Malam Abdul Salam Mohammed.
Shipping companies interested in the concession package were directed to contact the NPA management for a discussion, though Mohammed was quoted as regretting NPA’s resort to this diversion option because of the legal and economic implications involved..
"Forcing ships to divert can be likened to a scenario in a domestic flight. It is like a passenger who boarded a flight to travel to Abuja from Lagos and the Federal Airport Authority instructed the airline to drop such a passenger at Port Harcourt because Abuja Airport is congested. You can imagine the legal and economic consequences of such an action on the part of both the passenger, the Airline and the Aviation Authority", he said.
He admitted that there were instances when diversion of vessels was permitted by the Authority in the past, but reasoned that considering several factors, forceful diversion would not be a viable alternative, especially now .... (See subscription notice at bottom of the page for the full story).
Iran Will use force against pirates
Deputy Transport Minister Ali Taheri told Reuters: " Iran's view is that such issues should be confronted strongly. The Islamic Republic of Iran has the capability to confront pirates. If necessary we can use force."
He spoke after telling Fairplay's Tehran correspondent earlier this week: "We and the other countries are finding a way to prevent – not cure – this situation. And the military forces will have a very effective role in this regard."
He responded to the seizure of an Iranian-chartered bulk carrier last week: "We are prepared to deal with the situation, with military or naval force, using direct action by any means necessary."
HK-flagged Delight was transporting grain to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
Iran has voiced the view that negotiating with pirates and paying ransom will only increase the problem and that the safety of seafarers is primary.
Lagos Ports , Oil Terminals to Handle 152 Ships
At Mid February, Lagos ports and its oil terminals were scheduled to host 152 ships, according to shipping positions made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Seventy-six of them were laden with containerized goods and petroleum products, while another 76 others (50 tankers and 26 container ships) were expected to call in from abroad.
Terminals receiving the containers, according to the shipping position, are designated to go to APM Terminal and Tin-Can Island Container Terminal. Used vehicles were designated for 5-Star Logistics Ltd while cement vessels would go to ENL Consortium. The oil tankers would discharge at the Nido Gas Basin, Atlas Cove Jetty, New Oil Jetty, Ibafon, Single Bouy Mooring and Petroleum Wharf , Apapa.
All these were against a background of crisis in the seaports occasioned by port congestion that set in since mid last year where thousands of containers, some say about 10,000, were being abandoned by importers who were offended by alleged high port charges by terminal operators.
Fee causes LA-LB traffic jam
TRAFFIC jams up to 3km built up around Long Beach and Los Angeles ports yesterday, as cargo vehicles were turned back on the first day of a port container fee.
“Some people may have waited until the last minute, hoping the fee was going to be delayed again or changed,” Port of Long Beach spokesman Art Wong said.
“It’s the human factor at work,” added Los Angeles communications head Arley Baker.
The fee, amounting to $35 per teu, had been postponed twice. At least 1,000 cargo vehicles, totalling one-fifth of the overall number that service the port daily, were refused entry because they lacked required electronic identification tags. But by the end of the day, most of the traffic had been cleared.
The Federal Maritime Commission has opposed the fee on antitrust grounds and has told ports that it will be keeping a close watch.
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