Despite Apapa Traffic, Importers Still Desert Eastern Ports Over charges, insecurity

ABIOLA Seun

Despite the unabated traffic and the delay experienced at the Apapa and Tin can ports, Nigerian importers still prefer it to the Eastern port.

This is because Shallow draft, insecurity and high charges have been attributed to reasons why the Eastern ports have continually failed to attract vessels for so many years, investigation has shown.

The Eastern Ports which include the Calabar Port, Delta Port, Rivers Port at Port Harcourt, and Onne Port have witnessed low patronage of vessels in recent years.

Recall that some importers over the weekend appealed to the Federal Government to open up the seaports in the eastern flank of the country to decongest ports in Lagos.

The importers argued that the designation of the Calabar, Port Harcourt and Warri ports for cargo transaction would bring the perennial traffic at the Apapa Ports to an end.

The traders said in Lagos that they were experiencing hardships in getting their goods out of the Apapa ports.

But, investigation over the weekend showed that while high siltation is causing shallow draft at the Calabar port and making it inaccessible to vessels, the Port Harcourt port is suffering under constant pirate attacks and sea-robbery that has made the port unpopular for foreign shipowners.

For instance, the eastern ports have a much lower channel draught with the Port Harcourt port having seven meters channel draught, the Calabar ports having 6.4 metres as against the Lagos Ports – Apapa and Tin Can ports which are 13 metres deep.

With a draught of 6.4 metres, the channel can only attract flat bottom vessels which doesn’t ply Nigerian ports and much smaller vessels with less than 100TEUs.

Also, shipping experts have argued that for the eastern ports to attract cargoes and to be an international standard maritime destination, it must attract huge vessels like the Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) and the Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC).

But that can only be achieved by a deeper channel of at least 13 meters because smaller vessel won’t reduce port cost.

Bigger vessels calling at the seaports would also lead to reduced handling costs and shipping cost due to lower operating costs for companies and the operators are expected to make increased revenues from handling and storage charges.

With the shallow draught, there’s a limit to the size of vessels the Calabar port can accommodate and shipping, especially container shipping, is all about economies of scale. The larger vessels that call, the lower the cost of importing and exporting, and the lower the freight cost.

While the Calabar port suffers from shallow draught, the Onne port is combating insecurity such as pirate attacks and sea-robbery.

Due to Pirate attacks, vessels entering Nigeria’s Onne port in Port Harcourt, Rivers state are delayed for an average of six hours per night which amount to $45,000 (N16.2milion).

The delay, estimated at $7,500 per hour, is said to be fuelled by constant pirate attacks on the axis. Consequently, the importers of the consignments on board the vessel will have to pay for the delay.

The eastern ports including the Onne port have been operating on the International Ships Ports Security (ISPS) Code 2 due to insecurity in the region. However, vessels that berth and discharge find it difficult to sail out at night for fear of pirate attacks.

The Gulf of Guinea accounts for 29 incidents in 2018 Q1, more than forty percent of the global total. For instance, on 22nd of March, a merchant vessel reported that it came under attack from two speedboats 53 nautical miles (nm) southwest of Bonny at 23:48hours local time.

Also, on the 7th of April, a bulk carrier was chased down and boarded by pirates off Brass, Nigeria. The bulk carrier was sailing around 41 nautical miles south-southeast from Brass when four pirates in a speedboat armed with guns caught up with the tanker and came on board.

Before leaving the ship, pirates fired upon and damaged the ship’s equipment and accommodation. The perpetrators stole the ship’s cash and properties.

Speaking recently, the acting director-general of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Engr. Chidi Izuwah expressed worry over the inability of vessels to sail out at night at Onne Port.

The ICRC boss regretted that vessels cannot sail out of the port as it is done in Lagos port. “No night sailing at Onne Port and this is worrisome unlike what happens at Lagos Port where vessels can sail out at any time of the day,” he said.

An official in one of the container terminals at Onne Port, West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) exclusively disclosed that vessels failed to sail out of the port over fear of pirate attacks.

He said shipping companies are left with an option of sailing out at night and get attacked or wait till the following morning to avoid attack. The source who craved anonymity also said that the security situation in Onne Port has been a source of concern to all stakeholders especially shipping companies.

The source said, “Night voyage is absolutely prohibited at Onne Port due to insecurity fuelled by pirate attacks.

“As a shipping company, you choose between your vessel being attacked and crew abducted and you staying over and incurring demurrage,” he said, adding that shipping companies would rather incur demurrage than allowing their vessels to be attacked during night voyage.

However, shipping expert, Dr Kofi Mbia warned that the surge in pirate activities could have a wrong impact on commercial trading in the shipping industry as it would affect the climate of confidence in trade and influence the rise in insurance premiums.

Mbia, a former chief executive officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) warned of high insurance premiums over high pirate attacks.

“When your coast is infested with pirates then there is the tendency for insurance premiums to go up for vessels that are calling at your port because of the threat to the vessels and at the same time it affects the climate of confidence in trade.

Speaking on the shallow channel, the president, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, said Nigeria has lost its maritime leadership position to other countries not only because of security lapses but because of shallow draft.

He said, “While Nigerian water is 13 metres deep, Ghana is 19 metres, Togo is 16 metres, Cotonou 15 metres and Cameroon is 16 metres.”

Speaking in the same vein, a shipping expert, Dabney Shall Homa, said deeper channels mean more revenue for the federal government and operators and vice versa.

“A deeper draft means larger vessels call, economies of scale and increased revenue for both government and operators. It means reduced handling costs and shipping cost due to lower operating costs for shipping companies. There should be a strengthening of our comparative advantage in marine transportation,” she said.

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