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Nigerian Dredging Summit 2011. Pictures of Past Dredging Summits
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Nigerian Maritime News Headlines ...
Cabotage Vessel Financing
Fund: Politicians want to me to favour them —NIMASA boss Disclosing this recently in Lagos, the NIMASA boss said despite the pressure, he has remained resolute because he does not want to be remembered as one who disbursed monies meant for expanding the shipping base of the country to people outside the profession as was the case with the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund (SASBF). According to him, “Politicians see the fund as a bonus and I have resisted all manner of pressure to disburse the funds so far”, Mr Akpobolokemi said. He was trying to explain the reason for delay in disbursing it. He pledged to personally get involved in the process of disbursement to ensure that the money does not get into the hands of opportunists, insisting that ‘’Everybody is scrambling for the money but we are carefully scrutinizing all applications. I shall personally inspect the facilities and other logistics of all the intending beneficiaries to ensure that those who eventually get the loans use them for the purpose they are meant.” He stated further that the Indigenous Shipowners Association
(ISAN) in a recent meeting with He noted that therefore, NIMASA's management was focusing
on efforts to make jobs ‘’What happens to the loans if any of the banks go under? NIMASA will then be left alone to carry the loss in the event that the beneficiaries are not properly screened to ascertain the genuineness of their purpose” he said. According to him, ISAN’s pre-occupation is how
to secure regular jobs and not to get a loan they may not be able to
pay back due to lack of cargoes. Four banks, namely Diamond bank, Skye Bank, Fidelity
Bank and Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) were appointed as the primary lending
institutions to administer the funds while over 100 intending beneficiaries
have applied for the funds. Speaking during the visit of a 2 man United Kingdom Mass Transport Sector Delegation to the Headquarters of the Authority, the Managing Director Omar Suleiman who was represented by Engineer Tolulope Talabi asserted that NPA is working in line with its 25 years development master plan, meant to dove tail into the Federal Government desire of becoming one of the 20 leading economy of the world by the year 2020. The Managing Director further added that the Federal Government is currently making efforts to reducing the number of agencies within the port system to an acceptable level. Earlier in his statement, the Mr. Steve Cameron informed NPA Management that the aims of the mission are to provide a comprehensive review of the sectors in Nigeria and to compile this in a report for the U.K. Mass Transport Sector. He also wanted to know the challenges and prospects of the Nigerian concession which he described as a very unique example. He further said that U.K. being a knowledge based economy is ready to assist Nigeria in her areas of need and will recommend business opportunities to British business men for consideration. He advised the Government to take a critical look at the multiplicity of agencies in the port with a view to resolving their existence. Mr. Cameron was accompanied by Mark Wandles, a Legal
practitioner with Walson Forla and Williams and Co. in U.K. Ships Spend 6 Days Average in Nigerian Ports - NPA. The Nigerian Ports Authority has reported that latest indicators show that the average turnaround time of vessels for all ports in the country as at August 2011 was 6.1 days compared to 6.6 days in August 2010. In its monthly performance report sent to DDH as a
press release for August 2011, the port system witnessed increased gross
tonnage of vessels as against the same period in 2010. At a time when the nation is lamenting inefficient power supply, over 365 container loads of goods belonging to government ministries and parastatals have been abandoned at the ports. About 250 container loads of vital equipment belonging to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) are also involved. A source close to the management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) told DDH that some of the containers have been at the ports since 2006. DDH gathered that about 140 of such containers belonging
to PHCN were abandoned at Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources
which follows closely behind PHCN similarly abandoned 59 containers
loads of items meant for government projects, while the Others are Ministry of Works – 10 Containers, Delta Steel Mills - 6 Containers, as well as Governments of Lagos, Rivers, Ondo and Delta States. Unconfirmed reports said that the PHCN leadership which imported the equipment to boost power generation might have later changed their mind in favour of abandoning the items in the belief that bringing them on board could jeopardize a new desire to order for similar items and meet new motive. Efforts to confirm the above from the Public Relations Officer of the Customs, Wale Adeniyi, was unsuccessful. When DDH called, he said he was in a meeting and promised to call back but never did. Meanwhile, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko
Inde Abdullahi has warned against further abandonment of government
project laden containers in the port by government agencies stressing
that not only had such recklessness been affecting legitimate Customs
laws as far He gave the warning at the weekend during an official visit to the Ikorodu Customs Port to inspect 28 containers belonging to the PHCN abandoned at the Lighter Terminal. The Terminal serves as the Government Warehouse for safe keeping of overtime containers transferred from the various Lagos Ports. “Some of these containers have been transferred to this terminal since 2006. The last sets of containers were brought here during the port decongestion exercise in 2009. How can we rationalize spending tax payers’ money to import these containers, only to abandon them”, he wondered. The Comptroller-General disclosed that Customs has
obliged PHCN request to clear the containers from the Overtime Cargo
list, stating that 104 containers have been so cleared “Enough is enough. We shall consider the act
of abandoning Government containers as economic sabotage, and we shall
treat the perpetrators as such. Henceforth, we shall take
The Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has assured the officials of the Abidjan – Lagos Corridor for Trade and Transport Facilitation Project (ALTTFP) of its preparedness to promote the awareness, and fight the scourge of Hiv/Aids in the West African Sub-region. Speaking at the NPA headquarters in Lagos yesterday, the Managing Director Omar Suleiman who was represented by the Executive Director Marine and Operations Aina Egharevba asserted that management would give all necessary support to the committee established to sensitise and increase the awareness about the prevention of HIV/Aids within and around the port communities in Lagos and other port locations. The Executive Director added that the truckers at the ports are amongst the most exposed to the pandemic, so the Nigerian Ports Authority management is willing to support the fight against the scourge, moreso when two members of the Executive Management of the Authority are part of the committee. Furthermore, Egharevba added that NPA would also increase the awareness on the dangers of the disease amongst it staff through the sensitization programmes of its already established team which she said would definitely impact on global programmes along the West African corridor. Speaking earlier, the leader of the two man delegation from Abidjan-Lagos corridor for Trade and Transport Facilitation Project (ALTTFP), Mr. Edy, Kokouvi Anthony said the purpose of their visit was to increase the awareness on the need to fight Hiv/Aids and also to facilitate free movement of people and goods along the West African corridors. Stating that truckers and traders spend lots of time along the corridor especially at the Krake –Seme Border which he said hampers the rapid growth of business along the sub-region. Mr. Eddy added that the project is to be carried out at the ports in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Republic of Benin and Lagos Ports Complex in Nigeria; and that the huge populations around the West Coast corridor makes it vulnerable to easy transmission of the disease, a situation that calls for constant monitoring by all concerned. The project which is aimed at preventing the spread of Hiv/Aids would be funded by the World Bank and supported by the ECOWAS and it would last for six years, having started in September 2010. The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor organization he added, would work closely with the Medical Department of the NPA and the Lagos State Aids Control Agency (LASACA) to increase preventive activities. Mr. Eddy urged the NPA management to move fast in other to achieve the deadline set by the World Bank and the ECOWAS in this regards.
A Philippines-based firm, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTS) has indicated interest in the development of new ports in the country, even as the company has opened up discussion with the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Disclosing this at the just concluded 9th Intermodel Exhibition and Conference which took place in Casablanca, Morocco, Mr Jens O Floe, Senior Vice President Africa of ICTS, said his company is interested in the Nigerian market because it is not just an emerging one but the biggest in the African continent. Floe in a chat with DDH said that though they were involved in the Lekki port project, they have opened talks with the management of NPA to develop a brand new port that will help in further opening up the nation's economy. He noted that ICTS, which has 22 terminals around the world, is also interested in training of the needed professionals in the sector through technological transfer as well as entering into partnership with relevant government agencies in achieving growth in ports operations where ever ICTS operates. The ICTS boss noted that Nigeria, with its stable polity and a growing Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will have its container market on the increase and explained that though the country seems to be getting it right in terms of the needed port infrastructure presently, there is need for futuristic planning 10 years ahead because the market would continue to grow if the present conditions continue. He suggested deliberate efforts to move the ports from Apapa to the outskirts of the city to make room for development. Floe who told DDH that he has been in the port business for about 20 years, pointed out that the purpose of the concession agreement between the Nigerian government and the private terminal operators in country has been defeated, arguing that part of the management team of one of the current private terminal operators in the country was close to their shipping arm and thus, has reduced competition. However, he stressed the need for the improvement of power supply, the rail transport system and the road network in the country for her to become a hub for the sub-region. It would be recalled that the management of the NPA has expressed interest in the development of a new deep sea ports in Akwa Ibom state for which the state government has already offered the portion of land to the Authority. Reps drills Cotecna, others over operations
at port The three companies, Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited (CDIL), Globalscan Systems Limited, Societe-Generale du Surveillance (SGS) told the committee members that they had so far done well in view of the prevailing business environment in the country. Chief executives officers of the three companies Tayo Rabiu, Managing Director of CDIL, Fred Udechukwu of GSL and Chief Executive Officer of SGS, Nigel Balchin, noted that despite some initial hiccups in the system, the nation’s international trade had been the better for it under the concession agreements. The 12-man ad-hoc Committee chaired by Deputy House
Leader, Rep Leo Okuweh Ogor, had invited the service providers to give
accounts of their knowledge of the Single Window project as well as
the contract performance of their respective organizations and their
readiness to Destination Inspection Service commenced in January 2006 under a Build- Own-Operate-and-Transfer (BOOT) arrangement for a period of seven years. With a broad-based scope of services, the Destination Inspection companies were to, amongst other things, deploy a Computerized Risk Management System (CRMS), provide a Data Base for Pricing, carry out Customs Valuation and Classification of goods, install scanners at designated ports of entries, carry out physical examination of goods in conjunction with Customs officers when necessary, as well training and capacity building of servicemen for the future management of the project. In his own contribution, the Controller-General of Customs, Abdulahi Dikko, had announced that as part of the benefits of the scheme, the service had netted soaring Customs revenue being put at over half a trillion naira for the first half of the year. Speaking earlier, Rabiu informed the gathering that his organization had successfully installed one 9.0 MeV Fixed Dual view scanner, and one 3.8 MeV Mobile scanner at Apapa port in Lagos. The Cotecna boss also said that the company now has
in place three scanners at the Tin-Can Island port namely, 9.0 Mev Fixed
Dual View Scanner; 3.8 MeV Mobile Scanner in Ashaye Terminal; and a
3.8 Mev Mobile Scanner at the RORO Terminal of the port. The two fixed Similarly, the company has a 145-180 Hi-Scan Pallet
Scanner each, at both the Abuja and Kano International Airports. On
the land border areas, the scanner provisions include a 3.8 mev Mobile
scanner at Jibiya with a fully completed office complex, while a similar
project in Banki land
Destination Inspection (DI) service provider, SGS Scanning
Nigeria Limited, will Managing director of SGS Scanning Nigeria Limited, Mr. Nigel Balchin, stated this at the closing ceremony for the tenth set of customs officers trained by the DI service provider under the NCS Secondment Programme. The ceremony was held on Friday 21 October 2011, at the SGS Price Verification & Classification Unit in Lagos. Mr Balchin explained that since 2006 when the DI scheme was introduced, the company has been training NCS officers and officials of other government agencies involved in international trade. “We will be concluding the on-the-job training
programme this year and in the new The SGS boss admonished the officers to make good use of all they have learnt during the eight- week programme and enjoined them to be worthy NCS ambassadors. Guest of Honour at the event and head of NCS Human
Resources Department, deputy comptroller general of Customs (DCG), Garba
Markarfi, represented by deputy comptroller O.I. Okoli, expressed satisfaction
with the quality and delivery of the training by the DI service “From what I have seen, I am very proud of you all. I have no doubt that you have been well trained by SGS, which will help you while in the service and even when you have left the service. On behalf of my amiable Comptroller General of Customs who, as you all know, is very passionate on capacity building, I will like to say a big thank you to SGS. We are happy with what the company is doing and want this good relationship to continue”, she added. Speaking on behalf of the group, chief superintendent
of Customs, A.T. Abe, said “We thank management of Nigeria Customs Service for giving us this opportunity as well as SGS for imparting this knowledge. Some of us have been doing this job for twenty years or more; however we have never had this type of specialized training as some of us operate at the borders. I can proudly say we are now better customs officers.”, he said. Also on behalf of her colleagues, superintendent of customs, I.E. Enwereama, expressed gratitude to SGS for being a wonderful host and exposing them to excellent training materials and facilities. She later presented a branded wall clock to the company’s
managing director, Mr Nigel Twenty officers participated in the on-the-job training.
Participants were acquainted with the requirements and process leading
to the issuance of Risk Assessment Reports (RARs), a vital Nigerian Pirates Invades Coastal Waters Of Neigbouring Countries Governments of neigbhouring West African countries have raised alarm over the invasion of their water ways by Nigerian pirates and sea robbers causing vessels to lose millions of dollars. Disclosing this in Lagos recently, the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr. Partick Akpobolokemi, said that some countries in the West-African sub-region have complained about the recent development. Akpobolokemi said that NIMASA was currently talking with officials of these countries to find ways out of the present situation. He said that the criminals currently terrorizing these countries were pirates chased out of Nigeria, and that most of the vessels being attacked carried Nigeria-bound cargoes and that these vessels had paid their dues and charges. “This is the scenario, we chase away pirates from our coastal areas here, our territory, and they go Benin Republic. Some of the ships that are meant to come to Nigeria have paid all the necessary dues and charges meaning that Nigeria's image is not only at stake, the country is also losing revenue,” he said. He further explained that Nigeria is currently expected by the international shipping community to ensure that waters in the sub-region are free from the grip of pirates and safe for navigation. The move by both Nigeria and the affected countries to checkmate the activities of these criminals has led to the constitution of a joint patrol team to monitor the waters on a sub-regional level. Before the joint patrol team was inaugurated, there
were 35 successful pirate attacks The trend according to Akpobolokemi has changed as
only one of such attacks was “With the support of government, within one or two months, we can chase piracy away from territorial waters but there are certain processes that must be put in place which we are pleading with government to expedite so we can deploy the platforms in all the areas within our territorial waters” he added. He however called on every stakeholder to join forces with NIMASA to put an end to the menace of piracy.
NIMASA has arrested five vessels for illegal crude
oil transfer and bunkering activities The tankers, 'M.T Otakoy – 1 and M. T Mariny
were arrested early this Disclosing this to newsmen in Lagos, NIMASA's Director-General,
Mr Patrick Akpobolokemi, Akpobolokemi stated that the crew on board the vessels
have also been arrested while He explained that before the vessels were arrested,
their communication systems were The NIMASA boss noted that some Nigerian elite have
been discovered to be involved in “They get crude oil from smaller vessels from
Nigeria and transfer these stolen crude “We must stop all illegalities in our waters, that is a presidential order I just received and with the support of Government we clear our waters of criminals” It would be recalled that NIMASA recently traced a vessel stolen from Nigeria to a shipyard in Ghana where it was waiting to be scrapped. Revenue leakage: DDH gathered that the directive may not be unconnected with government’s desire to block all known avenues of revenue leakages, as well as laxity on the law guiding NNPC and PPMC import and export of petroleum products. The directive, DDH gathered, is part of measures by government to determine the actual quantity of crude oil being lifted and revenues accruing there from. To this end, government is expected to compel Customs
management to ensure that customs officers are trained in the techniques
of physical attendance either at the Petroleum A source at the National Assembly told DDH that, “We
are also looking at the “In the mean time we have recommended that government should make special release of funds to the NCS to resuscitate its marine commands. We strongly believe that without a functional and effective marine command, there is no way the Customs will perform its statutory functions of fighting smuggling on our waters, illegal bunkering and the all important functions of close physical monitoring of crude oil export at the oil loading terminal, to determine the actual quantity of crude being exported and government revenue being derived,” the source said. Commenting further, he said that “We are looking
towards creating an enduring initiative to meet new challenges posed
by modern-day smugglers against government’s efforts at increasing
national revenue by plugging leakages that weaken our economy and industries”, The air wing it was further learnt may also be expected
to assist in countering insurgency and counter-terrorism operations
in addition to being on stand-by in response to They accused the concessionaires of not allowing them to enter the terminal to either return empty containers or take delivery of containers but some sources said the concessionaires were constrained by lack of space for the number of trucks entering the terminal. This, it was gathered, led to long queues, a development that led to some of the truck drivers staying idle for days before it could be their turn to do business at the port. They declared a strike which started on Tuesday and ended on Friday. Some of the drivers who gathered in front of the port for the time that the strike lasted called on the management to find a lasting solution to a situation where truck drivers spend days on the road just to pick one container or return an empty. A source close to one of the terminal operators said the spaces inside the terminals were not enough to accommodate all the trucks wishing to come in, adding that this was the reason for limiting the number of trucks going into the port. The truck drivers were also worried about the level of corruption among the security agents manning the gate. One of the drivers said that some truck drivers desperate to enter the port had to grease the palm of some of the agents, after which they were allowed to jump the queue and enter. In what appeared like a move to address the congestion at the port, one of the terminal operators, APM Terminals Apapa, has announced that all containers classified as fast track (blue channel), “would no longer attract the general Customs Inspection charge, but a minimal administrative and operational charge instead”. Among the reasons given for this, according to the company, was to check the congestion in the ports caused by the excessive number of containers undergoing physical examination in port. Chief commercial officer spokesman for APM Terminals Limited, one of the subsidiaries of the Danish logistics and port operations giant, AP Moller-Maersk Group, Mr. Koen De Backker, said this will encourage more importers to effectively use the fast track scheme for the clearance of their cargoes from the port. |
Editorial
The scorecard on Nigerian seaport reforms It’s ten years since the Obasanjo’s presidency kick-started the search for better fortunes for Nigeria’s port industry. Once upon a time, the ports were a haven for wharf rats. No more. Ships then spent weeks in port to load and discharge. Stevedores were unruly, practicing the infamous “akube” system, where shipping lines paid for 16-men gangs but get 8 men instead. None could do anything about it for many years. The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) was then a glorified gang-up of port industry warlords. Former transport minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, shocked the nation when he exposed bags of money brought to him at night to soft-pedal the wheels of the reforms which started rolling during his tenure. Read more...
Other Articles &
Interviews: Capt Adeyemo on River Niger Dredging... Prof P.C. Nwilo on his assessment of NIWA during sabbatical ... Mr Nseyeng Ebong on his 8-year tenure as rector of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron... Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs as chairman of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron, his vision... Engr Muyiwa Omasebi: The face-off Between NIWA, MMSD and Lagos State Govt. Otunba K Folarin: The Collapse of Nig. shipping lines. P.L. Carrodano: How govt can revive Nig. shipping lines. Sam Epia: The struggles of Nig shipping lines with cargo reservation scheme. Jeff Gibb: Intricacies of the equipment market in Nigeria. Environmental
Quality Monitoring. Role of Surveying in the Dredging Industry G.B Liman: Of Myth, Reality and Resource Control Dredging Law: A judgment on the ownership of a sand dredging site by the Court of Appeal. Dredging
Law: b.
NIWA public notice on Lagos State intervention in inland waterways regulation. |
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Master Training 2. Firefighting and Protective Measures (including respiratory protection). For Dredge crews, Field and Technical workers. Class room lectures and Practical session at the Fire Bay. 3. Basic sea
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