Lagos- Capt. Niyi Labinjo, the President, Nigerian Indigenous Ship Owners Association (NISA), has urged shippers to patronise other ports in the country to decongest the Lagos ports.
Labinjo made the plea in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.
“I think there is a big problem with Lagos. Lagos is choked and until and unless ship operators start using the Eastern ports, we will continue to have situations of this nature.
“Overall, the turnaround has improved greatly. This is because of the efforts of the concessionaires.
“One major thing that may help decongest, reduce the waiting time is for them to use the other ports in the Eastern axis of the country.
“It depends on where the owners are. If the owners are in Lagos, yes, is good to berth in Lagos but if the owners are somewhere in the East, why do you have to come to Lagos. Is it not cheaper to go there?
“ Shipping service providers, owners and charterers and also service users must be encouraged to use the Eastern ports as much as practicable.
“The excessive use of Lagos is the cause of the congestion, albeit the concessionaires are doing their bit to cope.
“It’s also telling not only on the facilities and infrastructure in Lagos; so, let them also go to the other side, it will be interesting.
“APMT, only few days ago commissioned three new cranes bought at about over N700 million.
“It is also going to assist in the discharge operations. Other concessionaires too are making such investments to improve their operational capacity, thereby improving the turnaround time.“
He said that the investments of the terminal operators had improved the Turn Around Time of Vessels.
Labinjo said the terminal operators were also improving in their operations to reduce the time of doing business at the ports.