maritime bits
Stakeholders in the maritime industry have flayed the Minister of Transport, Right Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and the Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Ibrahim Hammed Ali (retired) for the illegalities in Nigeria territorial waters.
They specifically slammed Amaechi and Ali for their failure tackle midstream discharge and illegal vessels since they were appointed over a year ago.
THISDAY checks revealed that there are extant policies requiring that every vessel reports at a designated Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) port prior to calling at any particular private jetty. The extant laws also provide that midstream cargo discharge operations are illegal in Nigeria.
However, these provisions in the extant laws and protocols are not strictly enforced by the parasatals under the supervision of the Ministry of Transportation which has its headquarters at Dicharima House, Abuja often look the other way while these illegalities continue unabated in Nigeria territorial waters. The NCS under Ali’s watch is also a culprit nin this regard.
The stakeholders’ maintained that it was the failure of Amaechi and Ali to show leadership that has made the ministry and the NCS to squarely address the anomalies in Nigeria waters over the years.
The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) expressed dismay over these anomalies. The union which is the umbrella body of maritime workers in the country raised alarm over alleged illegal and unregulated discharge procedure of vessels that berth in Nigerian waters.
According to MWUN which stated this ahead of its recent biennial conference in the Akwa Ibom State capital, Uyo, alleged that these vessels are being discharged illegally without the required labour-related offloading standards being enforced on them by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). Besides the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Maritime Academy of Nigeria (MAN), and the Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), the NPA are under the supervision of Ministry of Transportation where Amaechi superintendents as the minister.
Though many illegal jetties operate in the country, the labour union alleged that the worst of these anomalies are committed at the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) base in Apapa, Lagos State and the Bonny Channel in Rivers State.
The immediate past President General of MWUN, Comrade Tony Emmanuel Nted, stated that the rising cases of vessels discharging at Nigerian seaports without being monitored pose security dangers to the nation.
His words: “The law of this country is clear on who should discharge a vessel when it is berthed at the ports. That job is carried out by only registered dockworkers. Can you imagine that when industrial chef called at LADOL, its contents and all the cargoes on board were discharged from the vessel by the crew of the ship. To make matters worse, the crew of the vessel were mostly foreigners. It is an Act of Parliament. It is statutory. It is the law of the Federal Government that said nobody other than a registered dockworker is allowed to work inside the port terminals, jetties and even in the bonded terminals.
“But today, many of the operators are violating these laws. How can LADOL allow a vessel berthed in its base to be discharged by the crew member of the vessel? Aside the fact that it deprives Nigerians of jobs, it also constitutes security concern because the crew of the vessels are foreigners who would not raise any alarm if they spot any dangerous cargo on board the vessel during discharging. Dockworkers are Nigerians and owe the country a duty to raise alarm if what they are offloading contains dangerous cargoes, but the crew members of the industrial chef are not Nigerians. Who knows what were discharged. After we protested, LADOL agreed to pay our dockworkers their rightful due but the deed has been done. The vessel has been discharged.
As I am talking to you, the same scenario is about repeating itself at Bonny midstream”.
According to him, a vessel by the name MV Hawk has anchored along the Bonny waters and the shipping agent does not want any of the dockworkers to discharge the vessel contents. The shipping agent wants to use the crew men to submerge the contents on barges. We are watching events unfold and will shut the ports if that vessel is discharged. The law says nobody has the right to berth vessel midstream due to security concerns. However, if the draft of the channel is shallow, some vessels might not be able to come inside the port. Such vessel is then allowed to discharge midstream, subject to inspection by all security agencies like the Navy, Customs and others.
The unionist maintained that all statutory payment must have been made into government coffers before such vessel can discharge midstream.
Said he: “As I speak to you, MV Hawk which came in from Duala (Cameroun) is still anchored midstream of Bonny waters, waiting to discharge. If they fail to engage dockworkers in the discharging process, we will shut the ports.”
It must be noted that the NCS has repeatedly warned against illegal berthing of vessels and midstream discharge of cargoes in Nigeria territorial waters.
For instance, Ali had in a circular NCS/Exc, FTZ&II/038/S.28/Vol.II/316, which was dated January 21, 2016, directed the strict enforcement of all relevant provisions of the extant laws of the NCS on ships and vessels that berth illegally outside Customs Ports.
Besides all the Deputy Comptrollers-General (DCGs), Assistant Comptrollers-General (ACGs), Zonal Coordinators, Customs Area Controllers (CACs), Controllers of the Federal Operation Units (FOUs) Zones ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’, respectively, the circular was also sent to the CACs of the Eastern Marine Command (EMC) and the Western Marine Command (WMC).
Signed by the DCG, Excise, Free Trade Zones and Industrial Incentives, Ms. Grace Adeyemo, on behalf of the CGC, Ali maintained that the directive followed intelligence reports hinting at probable compromise by some men and officials of NCS.
Continuing, the circular said: “Intelligence reports reaching headquarters indicate some form of compromise by officers, where deliberate acts of impunity are perpetuated through illegal berthing of ships/vessels and mid-stream discharge of cargo other than officially designated Customs ports despite existing circulars. In effect, I am directed to re-iterate and convey the Comptroller-General of Customs directive on strict enforcement of the Extant Laws and circulars in that regard (Ref.S.12 (1) & (4) of the CEMA (Customs Excise and Management Act). That on no circumstance should any ship/vessel coming in from foreign, berth at any other place other than the conventional ports, first. Where any of such ship/vessel is Free Zone bound or designate, it shall set sail thereafter under official escort of the Enforcement Unit of the Command for further official processes. You are further directed to enforce strictly all relevant provisions of the extant laws including S.26 of CEMA upon any encountered violation in that regard”.
It must be noted that in spite of the specific directives contained this circular and other similar ones in the past, the NCS under Ali’s watch have not strictly enforce them. These have succeeded in making a monumental mockery of the provisions of the circulars.
