Barge operators to pay NPA levies in foreign currencies

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has imposed fresh levies and dues on barge operators as part of measures to boost its revenue profile, insisting that such levies will be paid in foreign currencies, especially the United States (US) dollar.

This followed even as the operators have continued to decry low patronage in business through cargo movement via the waterways.

In a document sighted by The Guardian, NPA stated that import and export of containers, vehicles, dry, wet, bulk and general cargoes laden on barges operating within the pilotage, would now attract additional levies and dues.

A breakdown of the rates on consignments includes that a 40ft container will attract $28 per unit for empty, while dry cargo will attract $2.57 per ton.

Vehicles will attract between $45, $46 and $61, depending on their sizes, while liquid and dry bulk will attract $1.46 per ton and general cargo will attract $2 per ton. It was also learnt that barge operators previously pay dues and levies to the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

But with the NPA’s new policy on barge operators, there are indications that some of the operators could be forced out of business.

According to the document, the NPA described the rates as cargo and harbour dues, and as such would be applicable for coastal movement.

NPA insisted that estate rent charges would be collected at its terminals, adding that users of the facilities will be given a temporary operating license (TOL) that will entail payment of annual rent and that it would be entitled to royalty on cargo delivery operations within the terminals.

“In line with the Nigerian Ports Authority dues and rents regulations of 2021, these charges and rates will be paid using the applicable official exchange rates at the period of operations,” the document reads.

Meanwhile, barge operators in Lagos State have expressed concern over the low patronage of business, following the drop in cargo importation into the country and reduction of cost rates by truck owners.

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They lamented that the business of moving cargoes from the seaports to jetties and other facilities through the waterways had dropped significantly to an all-time low, even as investors have started expressing frustration at the development.

Findings by The Trumpet also confirmed that the cost of moving cargoes through barges within the Lagos waterways similarly dropped by 65 per cent as against 100 per cent due to low imports.

Apart from the sharp drop in the business of barging activities, shippers in the supply logistics chain have resumed trucking patronage due to affordable charges against what obtained on the waterways carriage of cargoes.

While truck owners collect N150,000 for cargoes from the Tin-Can Island Port to Mile 2 or Amuwo Odofin axis, barge operators collect N250,000 to the same destination, a situation that has affected the activities of waterways transportation.

Barge operators lamented that the first quarter of 2022 had been unfavorable for them due to low charges from truck owners and to further cut the cost of doing business in a bid to maximize profit.

A member of Barge Operators Association of Nigeria (BOAN), Jika Chibado, lamented that operators in the sub-sector of the maritime industry, have never had it so tough as this year, adding that the sudden crash in cost left some of them confused.

Chubado said some operators were gradually quitting the business due to the lull in patronage by shippers and freight forwarders, adding that most shippers patronise road transportation even at short distances.

Also, Kelvin Okechukwu, who also owns a truck, explained that the law of demand and supply has played a dominant role in the drop in barge patronage, adding that waterways transportation of consignments is facing “an all-time low”.

Okechukwu said truck was cheaper at the moment, which was why barge operators were not getting much business currently, maintaining that the high charges on consignments for waterways transportation contributed to the lull in business.

A member of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Inuwa Abdullahi, attributed the lull in barge operations to low importation since 2021, adding that there was a total drop in importation globally and Nigeria could not be an exception.