Shippers’ Council set to abolish Container Deposit, ‘War risk’ surcharge 

Findings revealed that container deposits are illegal collections by shipping companies to tune of about N400,000 per 40ft container and N200,000 per N200,000 from clearing agents, it is meant to be returned whenever the agent brings back the empty container.

However, recent trend have shown that many of the shipping companies never refunded the money due to delays experienced by the trucks bearing empty containers in Apapa traffic.

In most cases, the clearing agents are further surcharged extra fees for returning the empty containers late.

But, Bello said abolishing the fees would be carried out when freight forwarding practice is well structured.

He said “We want to abolish container deposits, but we need to have a structured freight forwarding practice, the port is a hydra headed monster, when you cut one head another one springs up, so if the freight forwarders are structured, they have offices and internet and so on, then why should shipping companies collect container deposits?”

“Now the shipping companies are losing their containers, they had to come to us sometimes; we have been to a state government where we recovered about 30 containers.”

Bello said that sometimes, operations of shipping companies have to be looked at from the Nigerian perspective and its attendant variables and challenges.

Specifically, he said that Shippers’ Council has stopped so many charges that were introduced by the shipping companies, and there is stability in the charges now.

He said that Nigerian importers are presently being extorted by international shipping companies and liners through the collection of ‘war risk’ charges on Nigerian bound cargoes.

On this, Bello said the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is leading Ghana, Cote d’ Ivoire, Union of African Shippers Council to meet in Lagos at the Global Shippers Forum, “Together with our stakeholders; NACCIMA, MAN, shippers associations, so that we can protest against what is happening to Nigeria- bound cargoes”
“Like the issues of various surcharges like war risk clause, why should we be paying war risk? What is the component of the war risk clause, what is the premium? Nobody knows, we need to go into it, we have had a meeting in London with the Global Shippers Forum, so they are coming here and we are going to look at the issue of war risk premiums because Nigeria is not at war. These are modes of extortion from international carriers and we have to stop them” he said

The Shippers’ Council boss noted that surcharges are supposed to be temporary, to address temporary issues but that whenever they are placed, it is not usually withdrawn.