Toju Vincent
14 September 2013, Lagos – The once-thriving global container barging and shipping line; Baco Liner has gone under, dragging along, its Nigerian representative; Brawal Shipping.
Baco Liner has been distressed for some time, leading to the scrapping of its three carriers; Baco Liners 1, 2 and 3.
The economic misfortunes of its trading partner has also taken its toll on Brawal Shipping , which in response to its dwindling fortunes, has embarked on a mass lay-off of its employees. SweetcrudeReport confirmed last week that after the scrapping of BACO-LINER 3 last year, BACO-LINER 1 and BACO-LINER 2 have now also been sold for demolition at an Indian ship scrapping yard.
Our source also hinted that what befell, Baco Liner ships was the effect of ageing. The ships were between 33 and 34 years old respectively.
Shipping Position Daily confirmed that the once-bustling premises of the Brawal Shipping in Lagos and Port Harcourt and Warri have become deserted and that the owners have begun disengagement of employees.
“I can confirm to you that both Brawal and Aeromaritime are gone, no cargoes again, the only small operations left is the Onne port facilities. They were lucky to have set up that terminal in Onne”.
You know when Brawal was alive; they took effective charge of KLT, because no big ship can go there, so everyone needed Baco Liner badges.
Anytime you see a Baco Liner container, they came in through Elder Demster; another shipping agency.
At the height of its success, Baco Liner was a dominant shipping service between Europe and Africa owned by Seerederei Bacoliner GmbH of Duisburg, Germany. It used a fleet of LASH vessels which have a very unusual design; they carry both conventional shipping containers, and barges that are loaded through doors in the bow. This system of barges inside a larger ship allows cargo to be discharged mid-stream in African Ports, including Nigeria, thus avoiding port delays.
Each Baco Liner vessel is approximately 205metre long, 28.5metre beam and operating on a loaded draught of 6.65metre. It has an average Gross tonnage of 22345, deadweight 21800 tonnes including 12 barges with 800 tonnes each.
Container capacity is 500-650 TEU. Service speed is 15 knots and they sail under the Liberian flag, serving ports between Nouadhibou and Port Harcourt.
It will be recalled that in 2007, 24 Filipino crew of a Baco Liner vessel were kidnapped by pirates in Chanomi Creek, in the Delta region of Nigeria.
Every effort to get a response from the company failed as calls made to the listed numbers were unanswered.
