Maritime This Week: A recap of news and events

Abiodun OBA :

Trade Facilitation as Casualty of Customs’ Revenue Targets

This medium took a look at Trade Facilitation as Casualty of Customs’ Revenue Targets in its editorial for the week.

Nigeriamaritime360.com said it has been an annual ritual for the Federal government to set revenue target for the Nigeria Customs Service.

For each of these years, the Customs authority sets its officers on a wild hunt not only to meet the target but possibly, surpass it.

And each successive Customs administration has acquitted itself credibly well in this task.

Year in year out, Customs authority has harvested humongous amount of money into the Federal government coffers as its annual revenue hauls.

But for this feat, the greatest casualty has been trade facilitation which has been subjected to continuous battering.

The hunt for revenue by the Customs has been taken to higher notch under the leadership of the incumbent Comptroller-General, Hameed Ali.

Nigerian Freight Forwarders lack capacity to handle project jobs – Nwabunike

Also on Monday, the National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Tony Iju Nwabunike said Nigerian Freight Forwarders lack capacity to handle project jobs.

Nwabunike, Federal House of Representatives candidate for Anambra North/Anambra South/ Ekwusigo federal constituency of Anambra state under All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the last general election, added that the lack of capacity is giving way for foreigners to take advantage of the Nigerian practitioners.

He said this in support for the move by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to consolidate the freight forwarding practice in Nigeria.

He stated this while answering questions from members of the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) at a roundtable on Monday.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 15

NPA warns terminal operators against charging importers for using badges

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has warned terminal operators against imposing extra charges on importers and customs agents for allowing them to transport their goods by badges from the seaports.

Consequently, the authority has pledged to investigate the operations of the various terminals with a view to imposing penalties on those it discovered to be surcharging importers for the use of badges instead of offering the service free of charge.

Use of badges is the act of transporting cargoes generally by small craft through the waters to facilitate their delivery to specific destinations.

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16

Liberian Registry boosts presence in Asia with new lmabari office

This medium on Wednesday reported that the Liberian Registry has established an office in Imabari, Japan, as part of the ship registry’s continued expansion of its presence in Asia.

As informed, this is the fifth office Liberia has opened in Asia since 2017 as the country has been building up its network of full-service offices and representatives on this continent.

Led by Eiji Okazaki, President of the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) Japan, the Imabari office would handle ship registrations and technical issues locally.

Liberia is the second-largest ship registry in the world, according to January 2019 World Fleet Monitor provided by Clarksons. In gross tonnage terms, the country has overtaken and outgrown the Marshall Islands which is now in third place.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 17, 2019

Official daily consumption rate of petrol unrealistic – FG

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Silva on Thursday said the official daily consumption rate of petrol in Nigeria does not reflect the actual consumption rate.

The minister made this known while fielding questions from legislators at a joint session of National Assembly Committees overseeing the oil sector.

He maintained that government does not believe that Nigerians consume over 60 million litres of fuel daily.

According to Silva, there is a lot of smuggling and lots of our neighbours are taking advantage of the cheaper price in Nigeria.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 18

Minimum Wage: FG, Labour agree on new adjustment

The Federal Government and Organised Labour have come to an agreement on the consequential adjustments of the implementation of the new minimum wage of N30,000.

A communiqué was issued and the end of the negotiations and signed by all parties.

Witnesses to the agreement from the Government side were; Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, Ag. Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Mr Olusegun Olufehinti, Director IPPIS, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

On the Labour side were Mr Simon Anchaver, Ag. Chairman, JNPSNC and Mr Alade Bashir, Secretary General, JNPSNC.

Storm forces Prince William, Kate’s plane to abort landing in Pakistan

The RAF plane carrying Prince William and Kate was forced to make an unscheduled landing last night after being hit by a severe storm over Islamabad.

It threw the plans for the final day of their Royal Tour into chaos.

The jet was attempting to return the couple and their staff to the capital Islamabad after a day of engagements in the city of Lahore.

The jet flew into the storm and twice had to abort landing at the military base in Islamabad.

On board, the unexpected turbulence shook the plane and forced the aircrew and passengers to abandon their duties and strap themselves to their seats.

The plane shook violently as lightning flashed around the aircraft.

There were many experienced pilots and aircrew (including Prince William himself) on board last night’s plane.

Every one of them said they had never experienced turbulence anything like that which hit them Thursday.

Another petrol tanker fire hits Onitsha, no life lost

Early Friday morning, another petrol tanker has caused yet more damage in Onitsha about 48 hours after the petrol tanker accident which resulted in a fire disaster at Upper Iweka and Ochanja areas of the town.

The fire incident occurred at Omaba Phase two around Chukwudi Bus Stop Onitsha after another tanker laden with petrol fell in the middle of Onitsha/Enugu Expressway about 3.30 am Friday.

Mr. Emeka Obinwa, Executive Assistant to Gov Willie Obiano on Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEEMA) media confirmed the incident on Friday in Awka.

He said that the SEMA team visited the scene at about 4 am on Friday, adding that no life was lost.

Obinwa said the incident took the same dimension as that of Wednesday afternoon but noted that the timely arrival of firefighters in the state led to the quenching of the inferno.

“The second fire outbreak in Onitsha within the week was equally severe; property worth several billions of naira including buildings, vehicles, and other valuable property were affected at Omaba Phase two. The petroleum product spilled through the gutter and resulted in the fire extending beyond the point the vehicle fell,’’ he said.

He said the fire extended to a mechanic workshop around the area and burnt vehicles parked in the place.

Obinwa said that full assessment on both Upper Iweka/Ochanja and Omaba disaster would be carried out by the agency.