Operators groan as cost of running Lagos ports skyrockets

Investigations have revealed that due to increasing cost of diesel and other commodities, the cost of running the various port terminals of Apapa and Tin-Can Ports have skyrocketed, leaving many operators struggling to maintain standards, in line with modern port operation.

checks by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that all the equipment inside the ports, including heavy duty cranes and offices for port workers are being run on alternative power supply, due to a lack of adequate power supply from the national grid.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the epileptic electricity supply to the ports, spokesman of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Mr Bolaji Akinola, lamented that the cost of running the entire ports on diesel is beginning to tell on terminal operators due to the very high cost of the petroleum product.

According to Mr Akinola, “Everything inside the ports in Apapa and Tin-Can are run on alternative power supply. There is no power supply at the ports from the national grid. The heavy-duty cranes that you see discharging cargoes from ships at the ports are powered by very big diesel generators.

“All the equipment and offices in the ports are powered by very large diesel-consuming generators. We are talking of the consumption of tankers of diesel every day. There are some port terminals that use as much as three tankers of diesel daily. It’s beginning to tell on the operators.

“The cost of running the ports has skyrocketed because in the last five years, the cost of diesel has doubled, if not tripled.

“Again, the rising cost of Dollar has also increased the cost of running the ports. There are certain obligations of the terminal operators that has to be done in Dollars.

“Despite the increasing cost of diesel and Dollars, do you know that the volume of importation in some port terminals have dropped as much as 70 percent? For instance, at some of our roll-on roll-off terminals, the volume of vehicle importation per annum has dropped from around 300,000 units of vehicles to 100,000 units of vehicles.

“For some container terminals, the volume of importation has dropped by over 70 percent.

“Terminal operators are groaning under the huge cost of running the ports and are seriously in need of help from government. It’s important something is done to alleviate the huge cost of running our ports before some people starts lowering standards.”