Foreign shipping firms reject double port-charging claims

By Godwin Oritse

The Shipping Association of Nigeria, SAN, has rejected claims that shipping companies impose double charges on importers for electronic cargo release services, saying the allegation confuses different processes and deflects attention from other cost pressures in the nation’s ports.

The association, an umbrella body for foreign shipping companies operating in Nigeria, said its members’ charges remain below prevailing commercial rates.

The reaction followed a recent allegation by former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, that Nigeria’s port charges system make importers to pay twice for the same electronic cargo release service – first abroad and again locally to the same shipping company.

Bala Usman had alleged that importers sometimes pay about $50 abroad for a Telex Release before being charged about N12,500 locally for what she described as essentially the same service.

But Chairman of SAN, Ms Boma Alabi, said Telex Release, an outdated and optional process, should not be confused with the Electronic Bill of Lading.

She explained that shippers who opt for Electronic Bill of Lading do not pay any dollar-denominated charge to the shipping company abroad, but only the applicable local charge of N12,000.

Alabi said shipping companies were already carrying a significant cost burden and charging below commercial rates.

She said the focus on alleged duplication “simply deflects attention from the real culprits which are the numerous government agencies and the many intermediaries in this market.”

According to her, shipping operators and terminal operators have also been absorbing rising operating costs arising from inflation, foreign exchange volatility and the cost of running dollar-denominated equipment on a naira-denominated cost base.