Since the port reform of 2006 and the take-over of the various port terminals by private firms, many aspects of port operations still runs manually, thereby making a mockery of the huge investments that have been ploughed into the ports since government handed over the reins of port operations to private investors. TOLA ADENUBI reports.
Despite achieving huge gains in terms of investment in port equipment, many Nigerian port terminals still run their operations manually, thereby losing grounds on other leading global ports in terms of efficiency and productivity. According to findings by the Nigerian Tribune, port operations like container stacking, Issuance of Delivery Order, Bill of Laden submission amongst others are still being done manually by many of the terminal operators, thereby ensuring the prevalence of human-to-human contact at the ports.
Container Stacking
In many Nigerian port terminals, containers are still being stacked manually against electronic stacking of containers. Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the ills of stacking containers manually, the Managing Director of the Inland Containers Nigeria Limited (ICNL), Ismail Yusuf lamented the time lost to looking for containers inside the port terminals during cargo evacuation. According to the ICNL Boss, “Nigerian port operators are still stacking containers manually. Anytime our trucks are in the ports to pick cargoes, we spend one hour or more looking for where our containers have been positioned. You know the port terminals are a large expanse of yard filled with different containers scattered everywhere. Locating your own container in the midst of the multitude of containers sometimes cost our personnel about an hour or more.
“In South Africa just down here, they no longer stack containers manually. When we visited the port of Durban, containers were stacked electronically. As a truck is coming in, the truck driver already knows where the container he is to evacuate are located. The truck driver just drives straight to the location which he has already being communicated to by the terminal operator, and he picks up his container and leaves. Unfortunately, we are not there yet in Nigeria. Containers litter the port terminals and locating your consignment sometimes can be herculean.”
Terminal delivery order
For every container that exits the ports, a Terminal Delivery Order (TDO) must have been issued before such container would be allowed to exit the port gates. For many terminals, TDO are still being issued manually. When Nigerian Tribune visited one of the port terminals in Apapa, clearing agents were seen filling TDO manually and handing such over to truck drivers who will then go into the ports to pick such container up. Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune, a clearing agent Yemi Atanda explained that due to the level of literacy of many of the truck drivers, some clearing agents will still prefer TDO to be issued manually even though in leading ports globally, TDO are long being issued electronically.
In the words of Mr. Alade, “Yes, we still fill TDO manually at the Lagos ports even though we know that in advanced climes, such documents are now issued electronically. However, we have to look at it from the Nigerian perspective. Many of the truck drivers that help us go into the ports to evacuate cargoes are not literate, so handing an electronic TDO to such individual could prove costly because without security officials sighting the TDO at the exit gate, such container won’t be allowed out of the port. So, it is most advisable to give it in hardcopy form to the truck driver who will then show the security at the exit gate before leaving the port terminal with the cargo.
“However, terminal operators ought to have started issuing it to us electronically for us to fill and maybe go and print out before giving the truck drivers. We still go into the port terminals to fill TDO manually. This ought not to be so.”
Bill of lading
In the area of Bill of Lading submission at the ports, port users singled out Maersk Line has the only shipping firm that collects Bill of Lading electronically.
“You have to go to the shipping company to submit your Bill of Lading. For now, only Maerskline collects Bill of Lading electronically. Aside Maersk Line, every other operator collects Bill of Lading manually. So how do you expect people to stop coming to the ports? The government keeps talking about an automated port environment where you can sit in your house and conduct your cargo clearance operations online, but when some shipping firms and terminal operators won’t provide avenue for you to submit your Bill of Lading or other documents electronically, won’t you come to the port environment?,” Mr. Atanda explained to the Nigerian Tribune exclusively.
Ills of lack of automation
Speaking on the ills of lack of automation at Nigerian ports, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello explained that lack of automation at Nigerian ports have ensured the prevalence of human contact which is inimical to port efficiency.
“Most leading ports globally are now automated, and we cannot allow Nigerian ports to lag behind in that regards. We cannot continue to have multitude of people besieging our ports every day. Human contact is dangerous. Human contacts are anti-efficiency. Once you have human contact, corruption sets in. Once there are human contacts, we will have delays at the ports. Some people don’t even have any business being at the ports. in advanced climes, people move millions of tons of cargoes via their computers. They don’t come to the ports. they conduct their transactions online.
“In the area of automation, we have been urging the terminal operators and the shipping companies to digitalize their operations. We are happy that some have been compliant even though others are still struggling to upgrade their operations. We have the score card of some of the complaint operators, even though I wont want to go public on the score card of the non-compliant operators because we are still urging them to key in into the digitalization drive of the Federal Government.
“Digitalization will solve the problem of delay, revenue leakages and corruption. Once we digitalize, our ports will become competitive. We should never forget that we have competitors in West and Central Africa.
“We know that the ports of Apapa and Tin-Can are really tired and very difficult to maintain due to dredging issues and limited draft. This has meant that only smaller ships come to our ports. The bigger ships stay at Lome and cargoes are then trans-shipped with smaller vessels to our ports. This shouldn’t be. Nigeria is the number one economy, and such shipping arrangement should be the other way round.
“Back to the digitalization of our ports, we have the score-card of every port terminal operator and shipping company. We are happy that some have made tremendous improvement. For example, at PTML terminal operated by Grimaldi, they are highly digitalized. If you go there, you won’t see people clustering over containers. Even the freight forwarders prefer going to that shipping company and that terminal. In our score-card, PTML/Grimaldi scored about 88 per cent. The only issue still left at PTML/Grimaldi is the issuance of Delivery Order which they are currently doing both manually and online. We want it to be solely online.
“So, if shipping companies like Grimaldi has 88 per cent, Ocean Network Express has 75 per cent, CMA-CGM has 63 per cent, it is worrisome to still see some shipping firms scoring 13 per cent in our digitalization score-card processes.
“For the seaport terminals, some are doing very well. I can say PTML again scored 92 per cent. BUA has 75 per cent because they have also digitalized their processes. Intels and the West African Container Terminal (WACT) follows with 71 and 70 per cent, respectively.”
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