AMATO Threaten Drastic Action Over APM Terminals, Shipping Companies Empty Containers Standoff

—Seeks NPA, Shippers Council Intervention

By DAPO OLAWUNI

The Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has said that it would start taking drastic actions, as port concessionaire, APM Terminals have stopped receiving empty containers destined for its Terminal, leading to traffic gridlock along the Lagos Port corridors.

National Secretary of AMATO, Muhammed Bala Sanni in a chat with DAILY TREND on Friday said the truckers would start demanding demurrage from the shipping companies who are now using trucks belonging to her members as holding bays.

According to him, the standoff between APM Terminals and shipping companies on empty containers is already affecting haulage businesses and this could lead to indiscriminate dumping of empty containers on the roads.

Recall that Terminal Manager of APM Terminals Apapa, Steen Knudsen, said on Thursday that the terminal has temporarily restricted the reception of additional empty containers until the existing stock is cleared by the shipping lines.

The terminal operator stated that managing empty container evacuation into the terminal and subsequent shipment onto vessels is the exclusive responsibility of shipping lines, which own and control all containers.

In reaction to the empty container standoff, the AMATO scribe called on the port regulatory agencies to intervene on the matter before things get out of hand.

“We are using this medium to seek the intervention of the Nigerian Ports Authority Nigeria Shippers’ Council and relevant government agencies towards addressing the present restriction on the reception of empty containers at APMT.

“Hundreds of empty laden trucks that left pregates have remained stranded on the roads carrying empty containers not received by APMT for several days without any demurrage compensation from shipping companies for expiration of our call-up tickets, wasted truck turn around time and using our trucks as storage facility for their empties.

“Authorities should not allow this situation to exhaust the storage capacity of empty containers holding bays, induce traffic gridlock, port congestion, cripple trade facilitation , impoundment of our trucks by task force on queue to drop empties, indiscriminate dumping of empties on the roads, and logistics inertia to the detriment of importers, haulage business and our national economy.

“If this situation persists without solution in view, we may be forced to start collecting demurrage from shipping companies as compensation for using our trucks as storage facility for their empties.

“If they are paying storage charges to Terminals, they should equally apply it to truckers” Bala stated.