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LUSIVE STUDY Ocean Freight: Ports as Inhibitors and Enablers of Global Supply Chain Ecosystems
Larger Vessels - in general, terminal capacity continues to be constrained by much greater peaks in volumes
created by larger container ships. In Hamburg, the increased volume peaks caused by larger vessels, coupled with
schedule reliability issues, have reportedly caused a doubling of average dwell times for export containers.
In Nigeria, a paper recently presented at a Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) organised conference in Lagos reported
that not less than USD 16 billion is lost annually due to congestion at the nation’s ports. The lead panellist said that the
high level of physical inspection of goods at the ports has led to huge revenue losses for the government. The
consultant identified some of the challenges hindering the efficient clearing of goods through the ports, including
shuffling of papers back and forth by officers of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the manual handling of documents
and lack of infrastructures to attract the investors that government desires.
The Lagos State Government says it allegedly lost one billion US dollars as a result of the poor traffic to and from
Nigeria’s premier and busiest port, Apapa Quay in Lagos. Giving an insight to the loss, the state government said
maritime traffic contributes over 70 percent of these losses.
In Cameroon, congestion at Douala Port has continued to build this year, with operators reporting that containers on
the ground at the port had reached a critical amount and were jeopardising vessel operations; full vessels were
waiting at anchorage, with very slow productivity at the port; and an approximate three to four-week delay to berth.
This situation was said to be affecting the entire port of Douala, with all shipping lines facing delays. With vessel delays
now reaching 28 days, CMA CGM has introduced an emergency port congestion surcharge (EPCS) from August 2014 on
shipments to Douala, ranging from $270 per teu from Europe, Mediterranean and Red Sea, to $300 per teu from
Asia, the Middle East, Gulf and India.
8 neptune EXCLUSIVE STUDY MARK MILLAR
Larger Vessels - in general, terminal capacity continues to be constrained by much greater peaks in volumes
created by larger container ships. In Hamburg, the increased volume peaks caused by larger vessels, coupled with
schedule reliability issues, have reportedly caused a doubling of average dwell times for export containers.
In Nigeria, a paper recently presented at a Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) organised conference in Lagos reported
that not less than USD 16 billion is lost annually due to congestion at the nation’s ports. The lead panellist said that the
high level of physical inspection of goods at the ports has led to huge revenue losses for the government. The
consultant identified some of the challenges hindering the efficient clearing of goods through the ports, including
shuffling of papers back and forth by officers of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the manual handling of documents
and lack of infrastructures to attract the investors that government desires.
The Lagos State Government says it allegedly lost one billion US dollars as a result of the poor traffic to and from
Nigeria’s premier and busiest port, Apapa Quay in Lagos. Giving an insight to the loss, the state government said
maritime traffic contributes over 70 percent of these losses.
In Cameroon, congestion at Douala Port has continued to build this year, with operators reporting that containers on
the ground at the port had reached a critical amount and were jeopardising vessel operations; full vessels were
waiting at anchorage, with very slow productivity at the port; and an approximate three to four-week delay to berth.
This situation was said to be affecting the entire port of Douala, with all shipping lines facing delays. With vessel delays
now reaching 28 days, CMA CGM has introduced an emergency port congestion surcharge (EPCS) from August 2014 on
shipments to Douala, ranging from $270 per teu from Europe, Mediterranean and Red Sea, to $300 per teu from
Asia, the Middle East, Gulf and India.
8 neptune EXCLUSIVE STUDY MARK MILLAR
