The Nigerian Ports Authority has declared its plan to put containers that have stayed longer than necessary at the ports up for auction in an effort to reduce congestion and free up valuable space at Nigeria’s ports.
According to Nairametrics, General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Mrs. Josephine Moltok, Nigerian Ports Authority, Lagos, said this in a statement.
The planned auction aims to improve efficiency and optimize operations inside Nigeria’s port infrastructure as the Nigerian Ports Authority intends to start evacuating overtime cargoes to clear the backlog in Nigerian ports.
After an evaluation team led by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdelene Ajani, decongested the ports to allow for effective operations on June 23.
Over the years, 3,200 overtime cars and roughly 3,295 overtime containers have been housed in the Lagos and Tincan Island Port Complexes, as well as the Terminals there, including Ikorodu Lighter Terminal.
The NPA also disclosed that 956 extra containers were stored in Nigeria’s Eastern ports, highlighting the fact that port infrastructure is intended to be used for transport rather than for the storage of dead weight tonnages for years which this age-long overtime cargo constitute.
“Following the inspection tour, which took place on June 23 and June 24, an all-stakeholder sensitization meeting was held on June 26.
“It was unanimously agreed that all cargoes and containers that had exceeded their allotted time at the ports should be auctioned in their current locations and removed right away from the ports.”
