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By Fidelis Ugbomeh
Some stakeholders in the transport and logistics chain have highlighted reasons why importers/agents prefer to use road mode of transportation to evacuate their containers from Apapa and Port-Harcourt seaports.
According to the managing director, Allworld Freight and Logistics Services Limited, Mr. Eric Umeh, it takes between two and three weeks for terminal operators to load containers into rail wagons inside the ports.
He noted that, during this period, while containers stacked at the terminals are still waiting to be loaded, freight forwarders are charged demurrage for delay of loading containers onto wagons by the same operators that caused the delay due to lack of enough cargo handling facilities to load containers on wagons that are already positioned.
He said only a few cargo handling equipment are designated to load containers to wagons and this takes a long time for about 20 wagons.
He pointed out that the challenge of using the rail mode is double handling of containers at the seaside from vessels to terminals and wagons positioned on narrow gauge railway line inside the port.
According to Umeh, the distance of containers stacked at A P. Moller port terminal at Apapa port to the narrow gauge railway line is such that the containers offloaded to wagons positioned must be handled twice and this requires more cargo handling equipment, which the terminal operators lack.
He restated that the terminal operators should promote the use of rail mode in the evacuation of goods from seaports through purchase of additional cargo handling equipment to offload containers from vessels to terminals and rail wagons that can move containers en masse.
Director of operations, Bueno Logistics Limited, Mr. Paul Ndibe, attributed the preference of road mode to short distance of freighting by rail as against long distance.
He disclosed that the longest kilometers that can be covered while evacuating freight through narrow gauge railway line in Nigeria is Lagos to Ilorin whereas most container goods are destined for Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
“How do you expect an importer whose goods are destined for Kano or Enugu to offload his or her consignments at Ilorin before transloading into a truck for onward transfer to their various destination by road?” Ndibe asked.
He called for the rehabilitation and repair of damaged rail tracks along the narrow gauge railway corridors between Ilorin, Jebba, Mokwa Minna and Kaduna.
While advocating for the repair of vandalised and damaged rail lines along the eastern flank of the narrow gauge railway lines, he enjoined government to extend the standard gauge railway line from Ibadan to Kano as well as north east and eastern parts of the country.
“Freighting of goods by rail can only be profitable to both government and importers if it covers a long distance of say 300 Kilometres”, Ndibe declared
