PORT CONGESTION: Customs Agents Raise Alarm As MSC Containers Litter Tin Can Port
—Haulage Prices Skyrocket, Truck Drivers Shun MSC Containers
By DAPO OLAWUNI
Terminals operating at the Tin Can Island Port are currently grappling with severe congestion triggered by the alleged mass abandonment of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) containers, with freight stakeholders warning that the situation is fast becoming untenable.
Raising the alarm in a chat with selected maritime journalists on Saturday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme, said terminals including TICT Terminal, Ports and Cargo, and Five Star Logistics Terminal have stopped accepting empty containers belonging to MSC Shipping, citing an acute lack of space.
Onyeme attributed the crisis to a persistent imbalance in MSC’s vessel operations, noting that whenever its ships call at the port with 1,000 containers, they depart with only 500, leaving a growing surplus of empties with no designated evacuation plan. He added that export cargoes loaded inside MSC containers are now trapped at the port as a direct consequence.
The financial toll on licensed customs agents, he said, has been severe. Haulage prices have risen astronomically, with the cost of moving an MSC container from TICT Terminal to another warehouse within the Tin Can Port complex hitting N500,000, while the journey to Ikeja now attracts a charge of N1.5 million.
“We are having a critical issue that could lead to port congestion. MSC Shipping vessels come to Nigerian ports with 1,000 containers and leave with only 500, leaving a deficit on the port. They are making Nigeria a dumping ground,” Onyeme said.
“This week has been hectic. To move a container of vehicle from TICT Terminal or Five Star Logistics Terminal to a warehouse in Tin Can is N500,000. After this, it takes you two weeks to return the empty container. Daily you are being charged on the empty container.”
He warned that the crisis was already straining the port corridor, with trucks queuing along access roads and holding bays filled to capacity. Licensed customs agents holding Terminal Delivery Orders (TDOs), he said, are unable to load their containers because drivers are actively avoiding MSC boxes.
“Licensed Customs Agents have TDOs now but they cannot load their containers because drivers are avoiding MSC containers. MSC Shipping should send not less than five vessels to Tin Can Port to come and evacuate all their empty containers littering our ports,” he said.
Onyeme also accused MSC of failing to secure adequate holding bay facilities. While the shipping line points to MEDLOG as its designated depot, he said agents and transporters have found no functional drop-off point in practice.
“MSC Shipping would tell you they have MEDLOG as their holding bay, but we have not seen anywhere to drop their containers,” he said.
He further alleged that the chaos has created an extortion opportunity for Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) security officials at the Tin Can Port second gate, who he said are exploiting the situation to fleece truck operators.
“NPA security personnel are now taking advantage of the situation and chaining trucks who come to drop MSC empty containers. They are collecting N50,000. For any transporter to load or drop an MSC container, he has to pay N50,000 — meanwhile MSC Shipping is also charging demurrage daily for the container not dropped,”
Onyeme alleged, adding that MSC’s daily demurrage charge on empty containers exceeds N100,000.
On the proposed increase in shipping tariffs, Onyeme was unequivocal in his opposition, arguing that shipping companies operating in Nigeria have not demonstrated the operational investment to justify higher charges.
“For now, the increment the shipping companies are proposing is standstill. MSC Shipping, for example, is not adding any value to this country. It is the terminal operator that handles and loads containers. Shipping companies don’t have any equipment, no operational vehicles, they don’t contribute or invest in our ports, they add no value. They are supposed to have holding bays but they don’t, and that is why we insist they cannot increase charges,” he said.
The Secretary of ANLCA Tin Can Port, Mr. Franky Paul Nwegbe, confirmed that the association has prepared an official correspondence to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council on the matter.
“The letter is going out on Monday to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council. MSC is not taking export containers. This is leading to a hike in transportation and congestion at the port,” he told DAILY TREND
The National Secretary of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Comrade Muhammed Bala Sanni, also confirmed the congestion to DAILY TREND exclusively, warning that his members are increasingly steering clear of MSC containers to protect their revenues and client relationships.
“There is no space to drop MSC empty containers and our members are avoiding it for now. Even when you have an export, to drop it at Ports and Cargo Terminal is very difficult.
“If you carry an MSC empty container, it would affect your truck turnaround, and the shipping companies are not ready to pay us for using our trucks as a holding bay,” he said.
“If you load MSC containers, you would lose revenue. MSC Shipping is not deploying ships to receive their empty containers. All the terminals are telling us there is no space. If at all the shipping company has a designated holding bay, they should come out and tell us.
“For now, nobody is willing to take the risk of loading an MSC container, at the end of the day, you would lose revenue and also lose your client,” Bala concluded.
