Less than two months after importers and port operators heaved a sigh of relieve about port congestion, there are indications that the respite may be temporary.
Raising fresh fears of imminent congestion, the outgoing managing director, APM Terminals, Mr Michael Lund Hansen told reporters in Lagos last week that cargo dwell time has increased to as high as 30 days and that it has become that bad because licensed customs agents no longer come forward to take delivery of their consignments
“No vessels are on queue for Apapa and there is no delay in delivery of containers or in transfers to inland container depots”, he said lamenting that clearing agents are not matching the fast vessel discharge with commensurate speed in delivery.
“Empty containers flow through the port without congestion on Apapa roads and APM Terminals positions containers for examination within 48 hours”, he disclosed further but regretted that cargo dwell time still poses great challenges.
“We still do not have clearing agents coming forward fast enough to clear their containers. Most containers were standing for many weeks after discharge without any step taken by the cargo owners to release them”, he told the media men.
He specifically disclosed that cargo dwell time in Lagos port is now 30 days and warned that it was unacceptable for cargoes to stay in the ports for that length of time. “This must come down, otherwise congestion will hit Lagos ports again”, he concluded.
Mr Hansen also seized the opportunity of the media briefing to introduce his successor, Mr Martins Dirks who will be taking over affairs of APM Terminal from him by June.
Mr Dirk a Dutch has previously worked for APM Terminals in Ukraine and has also worked in some African countries, including DR Congo.
“Empty containers flow through the port without congestion on Apapa roads and APM Terminals positions containers for examination within 48 hours”, he disclosed further but regretted that cargo dwell time still poses great challenges.
“We still do not have clearing agents coming forward fast enough to clear their containers. Most containers were standing for many weeks after discharge without any step taken by the cargo owners to release them”, he told the media men.
He specifically disclosed that cargo dwell time in Lagos port is now 30 days and warned that it was unacceptable for cargoes to stay in the ports for that length of time. “This must come down, otherwise congestion will hit Lagos ports again”, he concluded.
Mr Hansen also seized the opportunity of the media briefing to introduce his successor, Mr Martins Dirks who will be taking over affairs of APM Terminal from him by June.
Mr Dirk a Dutch has previously worked for APM Terminals in Ukraine and has also worked in some African countries, including DR Congo.
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