Many shipping companies are beginning to shun empty containers evacuation due to a surge in import volumes, thereby leading to the congestion of the Lagos Port terminals with too many empty containers.
Checks by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that the operator of the Lagos Port container terminal, APM Terminals, Apapa, recently had to suspend the acceptance of empty containers into its terminal for almost seven days due to the presence of too many empty containers in its terminal.
APM Terminals Apapa Terminal Manager, Steen Knudsen, in a statement released recently, said that due to a sharp and sustained surge in import cargo volumes over recent weeks, shipping lines have had to prioritize discharging incoming laden containers over evacuating empties. This operational shift has resulted in a growing inventory of empty containers within the terminal, significantly limiting yard space.
“As a result of this accumulation, APM Terminals Apapa has had to temporarily restrict the reception of additional empty containers until the existing stock is cleared by the shipping lines.
“We recognize the impact this may have on truck operators, consignees, and landside logistics, and we are actively engaging the shipping lines and relevant government authorities to expedite vessel evacuation of empty containers,” Knudsen had said.
When Nigerian Tribune spoke with a port worker, who wouldn’t want his name in print as he has not been authorised to speak on the matter, he explained that shipping lines prefer to pick export containers compared to empty containers.
“In shipping, moving around with containers that have nothing inside them doesn’t look profitable to the shipping companies.
“When a vessel arrives with import boxes and discharges them, the vessel owners expect her to pick export boxes on her way out of the port’s terminal, not empty containers.
“It costs huge funds to run a ship, so moving around with containers that have no content is not what many shipping companies look forward to.
“The problem in Apapa Port today is that many shipping lines are shunning empty containers. They want to move out with export containers. Thus, the amount of empty containers inside the port has been accumulating for some time now, thus eating into yard space optimisation.
“The trucks that bring back empty containers to the port bring them because they want to collect their Container Deposit Fee. If every shipping lines cancels Container Deposit Fee, some truckers won’t even bother returning empty containers back to the port because it adds no value to their operations.
“Same with the shipping companies. Sailing around with empty containers does not fetch the shipping company money. The money is in the number of export boxes a vessel is able to take out of a port, the Port worker told the Nigerian Tribune exclusively.
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