The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says it has commenced the evaluation of overtime cargoes at the nation’s seaports.
It said that the move to evacuate over time cargoes at the ports were intensified when the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, led an inter-agency team comprising the NPA, Nigerian Customs and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council on an assessment tour of overtime cargoes littering the ports.
The agency said in a statement that over time, Lagos and Tincan Island Port complexes and the terminals, including Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, have been occupied with 3,200 units of overtime cars and about 3,295 units of overtime containers, respectively, while the eastern ports have a combined total of 956 overtime containers.
The decision to auction the overtime cargoes was agreed upon by the stakeholders.
“This awkward situation, apart from constraining terminal spaces required for seamless cargo handling operations in the ports, has contributed to the deterioration of port infrastructure, which are designed as transit locations as opposed to holding dead weight tonnages for years, which these age-long overtime cargoes constitute.”
“Following the inspection tour, which was held on Friday and Saturday, June 23rd and 24th, respectively, an all-stakeholders sensitisation involving shipping lines and associations of freight forwarders and clearing agents was convened on Monday, June 26th, 2023, where it was unanimously agreed that all cargoes and containers that have overstayed their required time at the ports should be auctioned “in-situ” (In their current locations) and removed immediately from the ports.”
The statement added that to assure transparency and inclusiveness, the modalities to govern the auction process will be finalised by all stakeholders after a similar sensitisation meeting with stakeholders in the eastern ports of Warri, Rivers, Onne and Calabar.
