How NPA fared in 2020

The year 2020 started on a familiar note with congestion issues pitting cargo owners against terminal operators as regards demurrage and storage waivers. The new year inherited cargoes that had spilled over from the previous year due to the border closure policy of the Federal Government, which forced many cargoes that would ordinarily have come in through the borders, to come in through the seaports. With congestion crippling port operations, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) had to wade in.

Tackling Congestion

The NPA, faced with a congested Lagos port, decided on January 27  to start diverting vessels that have been held up for longer periods of time in the congestion crisis rocking the Lagos ports to other ports in Lagos, including the Eastern ports of Onne, Rivers and Calabar.

In a statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of NPA, Jatto Adams, the agency stated that the move was a direct response to the congestion crisis rocking the Lagos Port Complex.

According to the NPA, “In response to the recent increase in the waiting time of vessels calling at the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, the NPA met with shipping companies and terminal operators and arrived at the following decisions aimed at immediately resolving the congestion in the Lagos Pilotage District.

“As from Monday January 27, 2020, vessels which have waited to berth at any terminal within the Lagos Pilotage District will be diverted to other terminals with capacity to berth vessels within the district.

“In the event that all terminals in Lagos cannot discharge any vessels within four days, such vessels will be diverted to the Eastern Ports (other pilotage districts) for immediate berthing.”

With stakeholders still applauding the NPA for diverting vessels to other ports in the face of congestion, the Covid-19 pandemic arrived Nigeria, and the Lagos State government, in March, imposed a movement restriction on the state to curtail the spread of the disease.

For many cargo owners, the Covid-19 restrictions meant many could not come to the ports to clear their cargoes, thereby forcing the NPA to impose a 21-day suspension of demurrage and storage charges by terminal operators and shipping companies in order to cushion the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on port operations.

Biggest vessel arrival

In August, the nation’s maritime domain received the biggest vessel to ever berth at any Nigerian port, the Maerskline Stardelhorn. With a length overall of 300 meters, width of 48 metres, the Maerskline Stardelhorn which has a capacity of 9,971(TEUs) was received at the Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT), Onne in Rivers State.

“The Authority is delighted to state that the landmark arrival of the biggest gearless Maerskline vessel at the Onne Ports is a result of management’s determination to improve the patronage of the Eastern Ports. It is an indication of the fact that the Eastern Ports are equipped to receive all manner of vessels and an expansion of the options of consignees in the eastern and northern parts of the country,” the NPA stated shortly after the historic voyage.

Port infrastructure upgrade

In the area of port infrastructure upgrade, the NPA, in April commissioned two new multi million dollars state-of-the-art Mobile Harbor Cranes (MHCs) acquired by leading global terminal operator, APM Terminals, to boost service delivery at the Apapa Port, Lagos.

The new cranes were acquired as part of APM Terminals’ additional investment of $80 million (N33.6 billion) for the year 2020-2021, bringing the total investment by the company in Apapa since 2006 to $438 million (about N184 billion), which is the highest by any private terminal operator in Nigeria.

The need to upgrade port infrastructure in the eastern ports also led to the acquisition of two state-of-the-art Mobile Harbour Cranes (MHCs) and two 45 tons Reach Stackers at Nigeria’s leading container terminal in Rivers State, the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in September.

In 2019, WACT had invested $14 million to acquire its first set of two MHCs and other sophisticated modern cargo handling equipment, including 14 Specialised Terminal Trucks and two Reach Stackers. In 2020, the company announced a further investment in its phase two terminal upgrade, which includes acquiring three additional MHCs to bring the total in operation to five; 20 Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes; three Reach Stackers; 13 terminal trucks and trailers, and empty container handlers. The upgrade also included the deployment of reefer racks with a 600-plug capacity and expansion of the current yard, new workshop, and a new terminal gate complex.

Burning of NPA headquarters

In October, youths took to the streets in protest against police brutality under the EndSARS hashtag. However, the protest went out of control as hoodlums hijacked the earlier peaceful protest and started looting and burning public properties.

The NPA headquarters was not spared, as over 300 hoodlums attacked the six-storey building, burning and looting anything on sight. In the words of the NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman, during the 2021 budget defence session which the agency had with the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, “More than N1 billion was lost to vandalism during the recent EndSARS protests.

“The sum of N807 million has been earmarked for rehabilitation of the burnt portion of the agency’s building. This is different from monies to be spent on replacement of 27 vehicles set ablaze by the vandals and three out-rightly stolen.

“These vehicles being operational ones, need to be replaced as soon as insurance companies come up with the aspect of losses to be shouldered.

“Aside from burnt building and vehicles, other working tools like 317 computers were looted as well as photocopiers, the cost of replacement of which will be above N1 billion when added to the N807 million already estimated for rehabilitation of the burnt building.”

Increased port revenue

The NPA in October revealed that it generated a total revenue of N1.02 trillion in the space of three years. This was contained in a statement released by the authority in early October. In the statement, the NPA revenue in 2016 went up to N182.42 billion against the N173.447 billion generated in 2015.

The agency’s revenue surged in 2017 when it generated a total of N259.99 billion, marking about 42 per cent increase compared to 2016, according to the ports authority. In its 2018 report, the revenue generation hit N282.42 billion while 2019 peaked at around N300 billion, making it the highest in the authority’s history.

The authority noted that its contribution to the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account had progressively increased since the current management took over in 2016. In 2014, the NPA contributed N18.5 billion to the CRF, compared to 2013 when it contributed N13.1 billion. The authority contributed N23.8 billion in 2016, compared to N18 billion it contributed to the CRF in 2015. Its contribution to the CRF in 2018 peaked at N33.6 billion compared to 2017 when it contributed N30.3 billion, according to the statement.

Apapa gridlock

On the Apapa gridlock that has plagued the nation’s ports all through the year; the prospect of an electronic call-up system in January of 2021 might just be the game-changer the ports have been waiting for.

Speaking during an inspection of the Tin-Can ports access roads, Usman explained that an e-commerce system to serve as a communication system for the port is being designed and will be ready in 2021 , the communication system will reduce traffic on the road.

“We are planning to deploy an e-commerce system in 2021 which will provide electronic communication at designated truck parks, to ease truck parking on the road. Henceforth, the e-commerce system will come like an app where you download it on your phone and communicate easily when your truck has arrived. You can use it to know when a truck has been assigned to you.

“This will be in partnership with the Lagos State government. The Lagos State government is providing a large truck parking in Orile where we will feed them information on trucks accessing the port. The e-commerce will also reduce human intervention at the ports,” the NPA MD stated.

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