Freight forwarders under the aegis of the Initiative have issued a 30-day ultimatum with effect from the 10th of May, 2017 to the management of the AP Moller Terminal (APMT) to stem containers to the Tincan 2 formerly known as Lillypond Container terminal in Lagos or face action.
The initiative which comprised three freight forwarding associations namely; the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) through its Chairman, Mr. Olufemi Olabanji made its position known at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the terminal on Wednesday in Lagos.
The group accused APMT of refusing to stem containers to the terminal for the past three years having used their highly placed connections to take over the stemming/distribution of vessels from NPA seizing the berthing bay allocated to Lillypond by NPA thereby blocking other shipping companies willing to stem vessels to the terminal including Maersk Line notwithstanding the fact that the terminal was originally concessioned to Maersk Line.
It stated that the Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Mahmud Dalhat in an effort to see that vessels were stemmed to the command and out of frustration that nothing was happening at the command, changed the name of the command fom Lillypond to Tincan Island Port 2 in an attempt to bring life to the command.
“He called for a stakeholders’ meeting during which the Deputy Managing Director of APMT, Mr. Ransome Kuti and their Commercial Manager, Lillypond Container Terminal, Mr. Kayode informed the general public which includes the Controller, officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service, government agencies, agents and freight forwarders, press men present that in two weeks’ time, APMT will start stemming vessels to Lillypond Container Terminal. The Deputy Managing Director went further to say that Lillypond is big enough to contain 9, 000 containers which of their lines carry.
“After a month and some weeks, the Commercial Manager, Mr. Kayode and his Managing Director called us for a meeting and told us that stemming of ships to Lillypond is no longer possible rather that we should go and market the terminal to our importers and fellow agents. They went futher to explain that once the importer states on the Bill of Lading “Cargo in transit to Lillypond at owner’s risk and cost” with Apapa as a discharge port/Bill of Lading, in less than two weeks, the containers will be transferred to Lillypond but that is yet to materialize.
It may surprise you distinguished guests to hear that we submit our bill of lading backed with an application for the transfer of the containers two weeks before the arrival of the vesse, yet, it will still take close to a month before the container will be transferred. As a result of huge demurrage our people bear as a result of delay in transferring the containers, we decided to set up a task force to see to the transfer issues, that we discovered that containers can be transferred within one week after the arrival of the ship. While we are still contending with the delay, arrangements made by us with other shipping companies are also being rejected by terminal operators.
“it is in the light of the above that we are of the opinion that APMT in conjunction with Maersk Line and Lillypond Container Terminal are doing everything possible to frustrate our efforts to bring the terminal back to life with a view/plan to turn this command to empty container bay but God almighty will not allow the clandestine move to come to pass, amen”, the Initiative said.
The group noted that its leadership had to request for and had a meeting with Maersk Line/ Safmarine managements being the only shipping companies doing True Bill of Lading (TBL) when the frustration continued unabated to explain their suffering, hardship and frustration where the Shipping Manager simply identified as Mr. Seyi who according to the Initiative led the Maersk Line team promised that they would open a business code for Lillypond so that containers would come to the command with manifest and would be transferred from seaside/terminal even as it disclosed that the promise was yet to see the light of the day.
“All these are enough reasons to believe or to be convinced of the plans to see that the terminal is dead. So, gentlemen and ladies of the press, fellow agents/freight forwarders, we are happy and pleased that you are all here today, we expect you to feel free to offer your piece of advice on which way to go in order to stop APMT and its allies/subsidiaries from turning the first dry port in Nigeria owned by the Federal Government, the terminal with the easiest access route in and out, the terminal with the best import and export facility, the terminal with best facilitation from being turned into a wasteful empty container terminal.
The peaceful and conducive environment in Tincan 2 command should not be allowed to continue to suffer neglect. Our customer friendly initiative is one to none in the maritime industry. Urgent steps should be taken to avert impending danger as a result of continuous neglect. The initiative has already taken a stand that if nothing positive i.e vessel stemming to this command with the next 30 days effective today 10th May, 2017 will take a drastic union action that may not be in the best interest of the terminal and their allies. Enough is enough”, the group further said.
Responding, the Commercial Manager of Lillypond Container Terminal, Mr. Kayode Daniels who recalled that they have had a lot of discussions in the past however said that the freight forwarders should understand that dynamics do change saying that looking at commercial activities, people may want to find out how containers were moved from point A to point B.
Daniels insisted that when it comes to stemming, Lillypond had been the highest beneficiary as it affects stemming in Lagos from inception adding that Lillypond had handled the highest number of containers that came out of the ports.
According to him, “The records are there; you can go to the CAC’s office and check the board. If we are looking at now, we also think back, things have happened here. We have handled over 45, 000 containers this place in one year, we handled over 30, 000 containers in this place in one year. So, the issue of do we want to drive this place, are we trying to push containers is out of place. We have tried and we are still trying to make this place vible for everyone.
“Now, you will understand that about three to four years ago, the key ports, there are bigger concessions than we have, there are four of them in Tincan, they are about three of them in Apapa, majority are now trying to better utilize the space that they have, meaning that you now see less containers going out as stemming. Containers no longer go out as stemming, it is not a Lillypond issue. We belong to the bonded terminals, we believe that there over 25 terminals in Lagos alone, we have less than 5 operating. So, if stemming is going on, how come it is limited to 5? So, let us understand the basics, there has been a huge change in the market, the terminals have expanded, they are bigger, Tincan, PTML, Five Star, everybody is bigger, everybody can handle more now. So, the urge to push containers out like before is no longer there. You cannot create something that does not exist.
“Go to the terminals now, I was in a meeting a few Commercial Managers with some terminals and they were complaining, these are people that have waterside, people that handle the vessels, they don’t have the cargo, the cargo has dropped significantly over the last few years and I don’t want to us to go to economics, I don’t want us to go to international trade so that we don’t bore ourselves but if you are sincere to yourselves, you will know that the volume of trade has dropped drastically in the last few years. The dollar has gone up significantly, you go to the market, all our trade is in dollar and we all know what it takes to access the dollar. Importers can no longer bring in containers as they used to do because the capital is not there to fund these transactions. Right now, some importers are still trying to clear the backlog of the goods they have taken from the shippers which they have not yet settled, they are still looking for dollars to offset those ones and without that, these terminals are not going to release the cargo.
“So, let us look at the fundamentals first before we start looking at issues that are pressing to us”, he advised.
On his part, the Customs Area Controller of the Tincan 2 command, Comptroller Mahmud Dalhat implore the leaders of the Initiative to exhaust all avenues of dialogue before embarking on any industrial action adding that they had many bridges to cross before they could get to their destination.
He said,” So, let me advise you, maybe immediately after the meeting, you try to organize the leadership and have a meeting with the terminal operator because at this forum, there is no room for us to talk, one, we don’t have time, secondly, there is no way you can have a meaningful discussions in a crowd like this but the bottom line is that everybody has said his own mind, everybody knows what is the mindset of the union and probably the mindset of the terminal operator.
“All we are saying is that we should try as much as possible to work within the ambit of the laws guiding our operations”.
The Controller further advised the leadership of the Initiative not to wait until a stakeholders’ meeting is called for them to air their grievances calling on them to constantly engage the terminal operator as well as making sure they utilize all the avenues open to them even as he urged them to maintain the tempo already raised at the meeting so as to address their grievances.
“But it is you that is going to sustain the heat. How do you do it? By engaging the terminal operator, where you think we can come in, you can invite us but at least, engage the terminal operator in much more productive engagement, list all the grievances you have, problems, challenges just like you have said now. So, please try and maintain this tempo because this is the only one place which I know you are not going and I know that you are not going to succeed if you are not going into this area and what is that? Constant engagement, don’t wait until things get out of hand and whatever you do, put it in writing”, the CAC said.
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