Nigerians lose N24bn annually to delay in clearance of laden vessels

Due to the delay of vessels laden with consignments in the nation’s seaports caused by government agencies involved in the inspection of laden vessels at the ports, Nigerians and the economy at large are losing about $150 million (N24 billion) annually.

Bolaji Akinola, maritime consultant and chief executive officer of Ships & Ports Communication Company, said the loss is incurred during the period officials of government agencies perform statutory checks on vessels that call Nigerian ports.

According to him, a vessel coming into the port experiences an average of four hours delay. This, he said, could cost a shipping company as much as $30,000 (N4.8 million), which will be consequently passed on to the importers of the consignments onboard the vessel.

Currently, an average of 5,000 oceangoing vessels call Nigerian ports in a year and findings have shown that a vessel could be delayed for as much as four hours at berth during such inspections. And if each is meant to spend an additional $30,000 to its operational cost, it will sum up to $150 million on an annual basis. “The ship owner will not bear this cost but will ultimately pass it on to the importer who will in turn pass it on to the end user (the masses),” Akinola added.

Government agencies that carry out statutory inspection on laden vessels include the Nigeria Immigration Service, Quarantine Service, Port Health, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

The Ships & Ports boss, who noted that the inspection performed by the agencies are essential for immigration control, port state control and enforcement of government fiscal policy, however, suggested that the standard time for such inspections should not surpass one hour.

To save the economy from this enormous loss, Akinola further suggested that vessel discharge should be allowed by these agencies to commence immediately a ship berths alongside with the ship inspection.

“Both stevedoring operations and inspection of the vessel can be done simultaneously. So, rather than ask the stevedores to wait for about four hours while the government officials perform inspection, the vessel discharge should be allowed to start immediately the vessel berths while inspection is ongoing. After all, the cargo remains in Customs-controlled area so if there is anything untoward, the appropriate sanctions can still be applied without any collateral damage,” he said.

More often than not, according to him, only one out of about 300 vessels has issues with the inspection agencies. He therefore emphasised the need for inspection and discharge to commence immediately a vessel berths so that the economy will save a lot of charges, which “will further drive down the cost of doing business at the port”.