Cabotage implementation will decide MV Ocean Dragon fate —Eloka, VP, Clarion Shipping

Mrs. Bernadine Eloka is the Vice-President of Clarion Shipping West Africa Ltd. In this interview with newsmen, she speaks about the unveiling of the company’s newly-acquired container vessel—MV Ocean Dragon, its strategic impact on Nigeria’s maritime logistics, regional expansion plans, and the expected implementation of the Cabotage Act that may determine the project’s survival. TOLA ADENUBI brings the excerpts.

How has the journey been so far, bringing MV Ocean Dragon to Lagos from China?

It has been very interesting, but we’ve also been through a lot. I mean, getting this vessel here was not easy at all. At a point, we were worried and the banks were asking for the ship, but we thank God the ship is here today. From China all the way, having to navigate the language between Chinese and English. But because Chinese people, they don’t speak English, and we don’t speak Chinese, so we had to use technology a lot to understand ourselves. You can imagine with all the ups and downs that you have to go through in the industry. And then also getting the crew — flying the crew from Nigeria to China — and then all the challenges they had to face coming here. There was a time we even had to go back to Malaysia, because they were having some issues with the engine. But then we fixed that.

How many days did it take to arrive?

We left China on the 17th of April, and the ship got to Nigeria on the 1st of July. So about 60 days; more or less from China to Lagos.

There’s often this feeling among Nigerians that they don’t have opportunities on-board vessels. What is the percentage of Nigerians on-board the vessel?

Oh, for sure. 70 per cent of the crewmen are Nigerians. You know, we had to fly them from Nigeria to China because we wanted to make sure that it was a Nigerian crew. We wanted it to be a Nigerian vessel run by Nigerians because Nigerians can do this thing. So why are we looking for foreigners.

What kind of logistic solution does MV Ocean Dragon provide?

The logistic solution is, instead of people moving their cargoes or containers by road from Lekki to Apapa, Tin-Can, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, or Calabar, the MV Ocean Dragon can easily move 349 TEUs of those containers along the nations waterways and deliver them within 2 days to any Nigerian port. It’s seamless, fast, and bypasses the chaos of road transportation.

Besides Nigerian coastal operations, does the vessel have a regional footprint?

Yes, other than operating in Nigerian coastal waters, the vessel is also meant to service the nearby West African countries like Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and even as far as Egypt and South Africa.

What motivated Clarion to acquire this new vessel?

It’s nothing other than to provide solutions to our needs in terms of movement of containers from one port to another, and from one state to another—seamlessly, easily, without the severe risk of going by road.

Where was the vessel built, and what were the major challenges in executing this project?

She was built in China. The basic challenge which we all know in Nigeria is funding. Currently in Nigeria, to raise funds and invest in something like this is not funny. Even though we have financial institutions and banks, the challenge was convincing them. But when we did our presentation, and they saw the viability of the project, they decided to fund the acquisition of the vessel. It was finance that gave us the structure. Because the business is there, the customers are there—they just want the service.

Did you get a single-digit interest loan from the banks?

You know, it’s not the problem of the banks not giving single digit interest when offering loans. It’s about the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Federal Government policy. If the policy is not there, the banks cannot go against it. So the banks are working in line with the policies of the Federal Government via the Central Bank of Nigeria, including loans, grants and interest rates. So of course, their interest rate is not single-digit, it’s double or even triple digits. But what helped was that there was an understanding. There was a moratorium given and there was that consideration, cooperation, encouragement, support and the motivation we received. The bank believed in the project and we are sure it will pay-off highest within two years.

Beyond finance, what policy-related challenges could affect the project?

The major challenge I think we may experience is the full implementation of Cabotage. That’s apparently the reason we bought this vessel. Since we are a fully owned indigenous shipping line, we should have the full benefits of Cabotage. We’ve complied to be the first container liner in Nigeria fully owned by Nigerians in compliance with the government regulation because we met all requirements needed by the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). So now we are waiting for the government to give us the enjoyment and full benefits of Cabotage for Nigerian-owned shipping lines. They should stop foreign lines from the business of rendering services meant for Nigerian-owned shipping lines. These services include the movement of containers from Lekki to Tin-Can or Apapa. As well as movement of containers from here to Port Harcourt or Calabar. These include empty and loaded containers as well as bulk cargo. That should be for Nigerian vessels. So we are now waiting for the government to implement Cabotage and stop these non-indigenous owned shipping lines from rendering such services. Once the government does this, in next two to three years, we can have about three or more vessels like this.

What would be your parting words for other Nigerian shipping lines or entrepreneurs considering a venture like this?

My parting words would be that they should follow their dreams. Don’t do something because somebody else has done it. You have to be sure that you have the calling. And once you have the calling, God is with you.  When you know where you are going, you have your mission, your vision, your objectives and your plans, with God on your side, you will get there and achieve your goals.

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