Port congestion is a situation wherein a vessel arriving at a port for the purpose of cargo or other operations is unable to berth and has to wait outside at anchorage for a berth to become available.
This is a major challenge faced at various ports and is caused when a port or terminal is booked to more than its capacity. This is quite common in container terminals, and maritime stakeholders have attributed it to the increase of container ships which have grown by 1452.68 per cent in the last 50 years.
However, to avoid a long port stay, stakeholders have urged terminal operators to equip their terminal with more gantry cranes to complete the loading and discharge operations quicker.
In Apapa, Tin-Can Island and Onne seaports, congestion is fuelled by inadequate port handling equipment by terminal operators, slow productivity, and inadequate yard space occasioned by overtime containers among others.
Maritime stakeholders have, however, identified Port & Cargo, a subsidiary of SIFAX group, as the terminal mostly affected by congestion due to inadequate cargo handling equipment and space to berth containers.
The port congestion, shallow draught and overtime containers in various terminals have, however, pushed up the freight rate to Nigerian ports from Asia to over $4000.
According to B&BR Logistics, a trading company and worldwide shipper of vehicles, cars, trucks, buses, construction equipment, boats, personal effects, shipping of 40ft container from Shanghai to Lagos, Nigeria now costs $4,000 while a container from Shenzhen, China, to Lagos, Nigeria is $3,650.
From Ningbo-Zhoushan to Lagos Nigeria is $3,990, from Guangzhou to Lagos is $3,600 and Qingdao to Lagos is $3,750. A 40ft container from Tianjin to Lagos is $4,100 while Xiamen, China to Lagos Nigeria is $3,500.
Speaking on the development, indigenous ship owners said since no Nigerian owns any of the cargo ships that berth in the country’s waters, foreigners take advantage of this gap to maximise profit by slamming huge freight rates to the detriment of the country and her citizens.
According to the indigenous operators, Nigeria has a major stake in Africa’s shipping business, recording the highest volume of both inward and outbound cargo in the entire region, but the government has only succeeded in creating an enabling environment for foreign shipping companies to make a profit out of the Nigerian market.