There are fresh indications that port concessionaires; Lillypond Container Terminal Limited, which had announced intention of closing down its operations as a result of protracted losses, may have had a rethink, as shipping giant; Maesk Line in collaboration with other shipping lines has resumed stemming of containers to the terminal.
There are fresh indications that port concessionaires; Lillypond Container Terminal Limited, which had announced intention of closing down its operations as a result of protracted losses, may have had a rethink, as shipping giant; Maesk Line in collaboration with other shipping lines has resumed stemming of containers to the terminal.
Shipping Position Daily investigations revealed that Maersk Line, as well as Pacific International Lines (PIL) were among the shipping companies that have been keeping hope going for operators at the terminal by stemming enough containers to the terminal to boost its operations.
Speaking with our correspondent at the terminal in Ijora Lagos yesterday, a member of the Presidential Task Force of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Mr. Emeka Chidiaka confirmed that at a stakeholders meeting held with the terminal operator, a decision was taken to keep activities going at the terminal.
Chidiaka said that the Maersk Line and PIL shipping companies were among those that have vowed to keep the terminal going, and that activities are currently on the upswing at the terminal.
Speaking further, he said: “The announcement came to us as a surprise because when we started here we were promised that this place will be full of activities, but suddenly the idea came that they are not making more profit and that they want to close up the terminal”.
“We began to write letters and made consultations on why here should be closed and we were made to understand that they were not making profit, but recently they have come up with a new shipping company who has promised to keep her busy, and if you look around the terminal you will see that it is busy for now and they promised to keep it busy”, he disclosed.
“Going by the last meeting we held, I don’t see here closing down and that is the latest information, PIL is feeding the terminal with containers, Maersk Line is also sending containers here, mostly perishable items” he confirmed.
Chidiaka further reiterated that activities at the terminal are improving every month, but that it has returned to how it used to be. “But we are not expecting them to close down the terminal, if this happens it will be a surprise because the last time we talked they promised to keep here working, but we are still working to see how it goes” he added.
Also confirming the situation to Shipping Position Daily, Public Relations Officer of the Lillypond Command of the Nigeria Custom Service, Charles Agomuo said that, even though the terminal operator had not taken other stakeholders into consideration before going forward to announce its pulling out, operations have been revived at the terminal.
Agomuo confirmed to our correspondent yesterday that vessels and containers are now being stemmed to the terminal in other to keep it bubbling with activities.
“Lillypond is an area command, the decision to create the command was done by the board of Custom service, the issue of closing it before was an issue raised by the terminal operator without taking into cognizance the area command, but we have put that issue behind us and Lillypond is now moving forward”, he confirmed.
“We now have vessels being stemmed to Lillypond as many as we can accommodate, so there is no limitation” he stated.
Speaking on the N5billion revenue target of the command, Agomuo confirmed that the commands’ revenue profile is gradually picking up.
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