Divergent views have started trailing the directive by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to shipping lines to divert ships laden with cargoes meant for Lagos ports to eastern ports due to the high level of congestion at Lagos ports.
While both the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) have hailed the move, saying that there is need for eastern ports to be properly put to use, other stakeholders; including the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), as well as the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) say it is not done anywhere in the world.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the Nigerian Ports Authority recently said that it hoped to see more ships moving down to the Eastern ports of Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Delta this year.
The NPA General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications; Mr Adams Jatto, said that the Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman’s directive for diversion has been issued to the terminal operators and shipping lines.
According to him, due to the border closure, Lagos ports are witnessing a tremendous influx of cargoes which has led to congestion.
“We are aware that we have overtime cargoes in the port due to delays, but efforts are being made by Customs and stakeholders to ensure these cargoes are evacuated to make way for accommodating more cargoes”, he had appealed.
But, reacting to this, the Vice President of MAN, Mr. John Aluya maintained that there are lots of investments in the eastern ports, which should be allowed to be put into use.
“Ordinarily, I think it is an ideal thing, you know the eastern ports are idle and they should be patronized to make them work. I don’t know the reason behind NPA saying they want to patronize the eastern ports, but a lot of investments have been put in the ports that are wasting away. So I support the use of the eastern ports so that they can be more viable and contribute to the nation’s economic development”
According to him, every nation has their own problems and it is left for them to look for a proactive ways to solve the problems.
Apparently obvious of the implication of the order, he said: “On the law of carriage, that is an international law which I may not like to deal with. But as far as I know every nation has its own challenges and the nation determines the proactive solution. So if you want to follow the contract of carriage, yes like I said Lagos is Lagos, but where a nation is in distress, every nation also has a right to bring in kind of temporary measure”
“And one of those measures may be the diversion of those cargos which at that time it becomes normal. It is not a FIATA thing it is a negotiated thing. Some of the things they are doing they might have kind of concession for those that go there, so it is not a fiat thing, it is a negotiation thing, they will show them some free things they will gain from the diversion”, he explained.
Also speaking on who bears the cost for the cargo diversion, he said that it will be negotiated between the NPA and shipping lines.
“The cost has to be negotiated between NPA and shipping lines and on the bases of the contract as stated; yes their destination is Lagos and that is where they are and you know they stand the chance of staying up to one month in Lagos without discharging because of the congestions. So they will check between going to the eastern ports or staying in Lagos it is an opportunity cost whichever one pays them. Or they speak with NPA and give them a little bit of headway”, he said.
Also speaking, the president of Master Mariners, Captain Tajudeen Alao said, “It has happened in the past, before the consignee says port of discharge is in Lagos they will go and discharge his cargo in Calabar and he has to pay so much money to bring the cargo from Calabar to Lagos”
Explaining further, he said that the NPA should consider the draft of those ports at the east before diverting cargoes there, even as he added that it is considerable if it is within the same terminal.
“Once the consignee said my port of destination is Lagos, you cannot change it, if the ship decided to go to Calabar what about the draft. A 3000 TEU carrier will now say it must go to Calabar or Warri, it is not possible. So it is not possible if it is within the same terminal say instead of Apapa you go to Tin Can, I can agree with you”
Also speaking, the founder of NCMDLAD, Mr. Lucky Amiwero said, there is no law that gives NPA the power to divert cargoes, adding that the port of destination is already covered in the contract of carriage.
“There is no law that gave them power to divert cargos to anywhere. Cargos comes to the port which the importer or exporter said it is going to, unless that port is not existing, because the port is covered by contract of carriage which is in the Bill of Lading. And in that Bill of Lading we have what is called diversion clause”, he explained.
He maintained that although there are diversion clauses in the contract, but NPA is not in the position to change it.
According to him, “NPA cannot on their own change the destination, unless they want to bear the cost. And they have to bear the cost by various importers and everybody because people have assigned their cargo to come to Lagos”
“If they (NPA) try it they will pay dearly, they will sue NPA in different parts of the country, they will liquidate NPA. You can divert cargo from a place just like you going to Abuja, they will drop you in a place and abandon you there, how will you conclude your journey”, he warned.
However the president of NAGAFF, Chief Uche Increase said that the decision by the NPA to divert vessels to Eastern ports is in order, to reduce the waiting time of vessels at Lagos Ports.
Speaking further, Chief Increase said that the decision taken by NPA is a welcome development to tackle issue of congestion in Lagos ports.
“Diversion of vessels to Eastern ports is a good initiative. What NPA is doing is not wrong, because at present, the ports’ access roads are not in good shape, even as port congestion is leading to hopelessness on the access roads. Recall that some years back, the Federal Government took similar step of diverting vessels to Calabar port due to congestion in Lagos. So, it is a good idea”, he told our correspondent.
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