Laurine Emenike
Importers and clearing agents at the ONNE PORT in Rivers State are calling on relevant government authorities to look into the lack of adequate berthing spaces for ships.
Onne Port is operated by the West African Container Terminal, WACT/
They lamented that cargo ships were being delayed with associated port charges, owing to the availability of only three functional berthing spaces.
This situation, they said, has led to a long line of ships on queue for as long as a month, before access to the port.
National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, Chief Increase Uche, who raised the alarm, said they had notified the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, of the development.
He lamented that no steps had been taken to address the issue and the cost of importing goods through the Eastern Ports was exorbitant and much higher than what is obtainable in Lagos, because of inadequate and infrastructural limitations in the Eastern ports.
Uche said: “When these vessels get to the anchorage in Port Harcourt, before they are allowed to access the berth, it takes up to three weeks and a month. This is because of the number of berths available there.
“At WACT today, they have only three berths, and when they have up to ten vessels waiting, they would have to queue until the one that enters discharges and goes out. Another thing is the political will of the government because if the government had before now heeded the call for a deep seaport, all these challenges would have become a thing of the past.”
Also speaking on the development, President of All Ports Unified Freight Forwarding Practitioners Association, APUFFPA, Prince Mike Okorie, blamed the NPA for failing to ensure that terminal operators meet the minimum operational requirements to function.
He said: “Even though we are unhappy that WACT has failed the minimum operational requirement, more of the blame should go to the Nigerian Ports Authority for also failing in its duty to ensure compliance.
“If NPA is up and doing, these foreign terminal operators will focus less on profit repatriation until their operational capacities are well in place.”
