Cargo exposure to risks of damage as well as high port charges has been identified as some of the reasons why Nigerian port is currently losing its cargo to ports of neighbouring West African countries.
Speaking in Lagos yesterday at a roundtable meeting to address the challenges associated with cargo exposure to risk of damage, loss and delay at Nigerian ports, President of the Guild of Marine Surveyors and Chief Executive Officer, Seaguard International Services, Mr. Ogadina M.C placed the bulk of the blames on terminal operators.
Cargo exposure to risks of damage as well as high port charges has been identified as some of the reasons why Nigerian port is currently losing its cargo to ports of neighbouring West African countries.
Speaking in Lagos yesterday at a roundtable meeting to address the challenges associated with cargo exposure to risk of damage, loss and delay at Nigerian ports, President of the Guild of Marine Surveyors and Chief Executive Officer, Seaguard International Services, Mr. Ogadina M.C placed the bulk of the blames on terminal operators.
Ogadina said that the terminal operators should be held responsible for the damages to imported cargoes because they refuse to open their gates for marine surveyors to inspect the extent of damage done to goods before they are cleared from the port.
"Before the ports were concessioned, we use to get port passes and identity cards from the NPA to enter into the ports for inspection, with the port reforms, the responsibility now lie with the terminal operators", he stated.
Apart from this, Ogadina called for the establishment of an umpire at the port that can detain vessels until its damaged cargoes are accounted for.
He alleged that when there is an insurance claim from the importer, the terminal operators do not respond on time. "They tell you that as soon as the truck exits their gates, the claim is over".
Responding on behalf of the terminal operators, the Terminal Administrator of ENL Consortium; Mr. Uche Egbom, argued that the main reason surveyors are not allowed into the terminals is as a result of laid down procedures and bureaucracies.
"The issue of surveyors not being granted access to the port is as a result of procedures, there is no contract between the surveyor and the terminal operator unless the cargo owner or the insurance company presents the surveyor for us to grant him access", he explained.
Egbom also maintained that the damage done to cargoes is not directly the fault of terminal operators; he argued that the packing system of goods coming into Nigeria from Asian countries is usually badly done.
However, Director of Commercial Services of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Mrs Dabney Shal-Holmer in her comments assured that the Council in conjunction with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is already coming up with benchmarks that will stabilise the sector.
"In Nigeria, no terminal operator will invite a surveyor into its terminal to access cargo, it has to be done by coercion, I had to on some occasion, sit down the terminal operators and tell them that if cargoes are continually damaged, they will be losing trade to other ports" she said.
While speaking earlier, Chairman of the Cargo Defence Fund who are the organisers of the programme; Senator Cosmas Niagwan said that the department which is domicile under the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has observed an increase in loss of cargo and damages at Nigerian ports.
In his welcome address, he said, "in addition to complaints received from individual shippers, lately we have received complaints from the organised private sector and under writers of marine cargo on the increase of incidents of cargo loss and damage at Nigerian ports and terminals"
The theme of the roundtable was “Cargo Exposure to Risk of Damage, Loss and Deal at Nigerian Ports and Terminals’’.
He said that the Council had engaged maritime lawyers, experts and experienced bureaucrats to work out ways to assist Nigerian shippers in the pursuit of their claims, recoveries and legal remedies.
“The Fund is a project of the NSC with the responsibility to protect the interests of importers and exporters,’’ he said.
Niagwan said that the CDF had received complaints from the private sector and underwriters of cargo on increased incidence of cargo loss and damage at the Nigerian ports and terminals.
“This prompted the joint committee of the Cargo Defence Fund, the Nigeria Insurers Association, the Guild of Maritime Surveyors and the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council to hold a forum to discuss the problems,’’ he said.
He added that:“It is hoped that the outcome of this roundtable will assist in steps to minimise the risks faced by cargoes owners at Nigerian ports and terminals”.
Miss Azuka Ugo, the Secretary of the CDF,said that the council would ensure that whatever decisions that came out of the forum would be implemented.
“There are too many incidents. When there are many incidents of cargo disposal, it leads to too many loses and if shippers loses, the economy loses,’’ she said.
The event was attended by officials of government agencies, shippers, terminal, operators, freight forwarders, insurers, surveyors and a host of other players in shipping.
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