– Gross tonnage increased by 6.9
– 1.2 decrease in container traffic
Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — Following a lull in the economy, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has recorded a drop of 4.3 percent drop in the number ships that called at the nation’s seaports in the first half of the year 2024 as a total of 251 vessels called at the ports between January and June.
This was contained in the report of the just concluded quarterly meeting of the Nigerian Port Consultative Council, NPCC, where it was also reported despite the drop in vessel calls, there was 6.9 percent increase in Gross Tonnage of ships completed was put at 32,614,191 metric tons in the period under review against 30,504, 276 in 2023.
Part of the report reads: “The cargo throughput excluding Crude oil stood at 21,186,348 metric tons against 18,234,644 metric tons in 2023 indicating an increase of 16.1 percent.
“Inward cargo traffic reached 13,563,173 metric tons representing a 10.5 of cargo throughput in 2023 . Outward cargo traffic was 7,6234,175 metric tons, representing 27.7 percent.
“Container traffic for the period under review stood at 398,447 between January and June showing an increase of 2.3 percent from 389,303 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units, TEUs handled in 2023.
“A further analysis of container traffic revealed that import container accounted for 3.4percent with 198,415 TEUs while export container traffic stood at 195,106 TEUs representing a decrease of 1.2 percent of total container traffic.
“A breakdown of export container traffic revealed that empty containers accounted for about 36.3 percent of total export container traffic.
“Vehicle Traffic, a total 10,991 units of vehicles were handled during the period under review, indicating a drop of 60.8 percent from28,024 units in 2023.
“The average turn-around time of vessels was 4.64.6 days, compared with 5.1 days in 2023. The significant improvement in average turn-around time for vessel was brought about by the impact of the Lekki Deep Sea Port which achieved average turn-around of only one day.
“The increase in Gross Registered Tonnage, GRT despite the drop in the number of vessel call revealed the berthing of bigger vessels, especially at Lekki Port where the average GRT of vessels is 3,801,191. This further gives credibility to the importance of a deep seaport to the Nigerian maritime or port development.
“Therefore, the collective efforts of all stakeholders are required to ensure that Lekki Deep Seaport does not suffer the same fate as Apapa for ease of cargo evacuation.”
