The menace of empty containers and Lagos ports gridlock.

For seveal years till the better part of last year, 2018, Lagos ports complex was under siege .

The siege of intractable traffic gridlock which paralysed and almost locked down the port activities at Apapa port, Tin Can port and Ports and Terminal Multi-Services Limited(PTML) which account for a combined capacity of over 70 percent of all imports.

Due to the combined factors of collapsed port access roads and the indescrimate siting of petroleum products tank farms, the roads leading to these ports largely became impassable as containers-laden trucks and petroleum tankers were in stiff competition to access and exit the ports.

During this period, valuable man-hours were lost, precious human lives were wasted and the social life of residents around the port vicinity was shattered.

However, this malignant nightmare , which led to the close down of several offices in Apapa, abated slightly after the rehabilitation of Ijora -Wharf road leading to the Apapa port.

To our dismay, the siege is creeping back.

Apart from the bad roads, trucks laden with empty containers struggling to enter the port , were fingered as the main cause of the gridlock.

Government thereafter rehabilitated the Wharf road while Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) embarked on palliative measures which included call card system meant control traffic and structure the entry of containers-laden trucks.

The other measure was a directive to the shipping companies who are supposed to warehouse these empty containers, to construct holding bays to keep the containers out of the roads.

Four shipping companies, including Maerskline and Cosco Shipping, were handed a 10-day suspension for flouting the order.

Surprisingly, in a move which was akin to capitulation to pressure, NPA hastily reversed itself and lifted the suspension before it lapsed.

We are saddened by the seeming arrogance of the shipping companies and their flagrant disregard for the rules of engagement.

Against international best practices, the shipping companies have turned the country into a dumping ground for empty, sometimes, expired containers.

According to all the known norms, shipping companies, which own these containers, are supposed to take them back to the ports of origin after they are unstuffed at their countries of destinations.

But in Nigeria, not only did the shipping companies refuse to take possession of these containers in the holding bays they have consistently refused to build, they have decided to abandon majority of these containers in the country.

We note that they have dubiously devised a means of recovering the cost of the boxes through various indescrimate charges, including containers deposits,which is supposed to be refundable after they are returned.

But they frustrate all attempts of importers to return the containers who invariably forfeit the deposit.

With this snobbish attitude of shipping companies and lack of will power of relevant government agencies to enforce the guidelines on handling empty containers, the country has become a dumping site.

We are worried that if nothing is done to tackle this menace, the perennial traffic gridlock at the ports will become a perpectuality, notwithstanding the state of the roads, even if they are paved with glass.

We want to implore the NPA to muster enough political will power to take on these shipping companies and compel them to play the game by the rules.

Firstly, NPA should not back down on the need for these service providers to get holding bays where they could warehouse the containers.

Secondly, the agency should not compromise on its position that no empty container that does not originate from the holding bay will be allowed access into the port.

We are convinced that if these directives are strictly enforced, the menace of the empty containers on the port access roads will be curtailed.

Another measure to tackle the menace is to co-opt bonded terminals operators into the management of empty containers .

Most bonded terminals are presently unviable .

While some had packed up, those that are yet to go under are living on the throes of death.

Except for very few ones that are struggling to survive, majority are barely existing.

Their services became dispensable following the port concession programme of 2006 which took away their business and relevance.

Prior to that time, they became a child of necessity nurtured and sustained by the inefficiency of the NPA.

Now that terminal operations have been conceded to private players, the operators of the moribund bonded terminals are looking for means of survival.

Our recommendation is that the recalcitrant shipping companies could out -source holding bay services to the bonded terminals operators who, to our mind, are looking for a life line to stay afloat.

Since the shipping companies are not attracted to owing holding bays despite the directive of NPA, obviously due to the running costs, this function could be given to bonded terminals operators whose facilities are under utilised under a mutually agreed business partnership.

This partnership could be facilitated by the NPA which could act as unbiased umpire to ensure its success.

If this is done, we believe it will also take away most of the floating empty containers which are causing confusion on the port access roads.

Another measure, which may appear drastic but feasible is for the Nigerian Shippers’Council to compel the shipping companies to scrap the dubious and controversial containers deposits.

We believe that it was this deposit that allows the shipping companies to abandon their containers with the importers, knowing fully well that it has cover the costs.

So they would not want to be bothered with the extra costs of owning and maintaining holding bays.

But we are sure that if this exploitative fee is abolished, which is by no means a small task, shipping companies will be eager to take back their boxes.

We must however warn that Shippers’Council should expect a tough battle and resistance from the service providers but it is worth trying.

Our passion is to see all the encumberances in cargo delivery system removed which to us, will not only engender quick clearance and evacuation of goods but enhance quick turn-around of vessels that will boost port efficiency.