Lagos — Normalcy is gradually returning to the Lagos ports as the monstrous congestion that bedevilled the ports over the past seven months has gone down considerably.

Managing Director of APM Terminals Apapa Limited, Michael Lund Hansen, disclosed that vessel queues has virtually been removed at Apapa port even as the total number of containers taken out of the container terminal has continued to increase.

Hansen stated that the trend has been maintained even as the total volume of containers discharged from ships continues to increase.

At the beginning of the year, there were 16 container vessels on queue at the container terminal operated by APM Terminals Apapa.

The APM managing director noted that vessel queues began to witness significant reduction towards the end of February 2009, coming down to 14.

This, he said, has however reduced sharply to only three waiting to berth at the terminal at the moment.

He, however, said that reduced dwell time is the only solution to port congestion. Hansen said that his terminal has the capacity to handle three times what it currently handles if only consignees and agents take delivery of their boxes promptly.

"On the average, these containers sit at the terminal for 28 days. We will double capacity of the port if the dwell time is reduced by half. At present, we handle half a million TEU but the terminal has the capacity to handle one and half million TEU if dwell time is reduced", he stated.

For managing director of Micura Services Limited, Michael Ubogu, there has been a more than 45 percent decrease in congestion from what it used to be. "Congestion has reduced considerably" he said.

A member of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Peter Obi, noted that the committee constituted to decongest the ports has been doing a good job.

According to him, the congestion, which overwhelmed the entire nation, is now at a tolerable state.

Transport Minister, Ibrahim Bio, also confirmed the reduction of the congestion on his maiden visit to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

"I know everything that is happening at the ports. I know when there are vessels on queue or when we have congestion on our hands but I can assure you that as we speak, there is no more congestion at the ports and we must make sure that this situation does not repeat itself," Bio stated.

The congestion at Lagos ports reared its head in October last year, prompting the Federal Government to give directive to principal stakeholders to immediately look for a way to decongest the nation's seaport of cargo within 60 days.

Committees were set up to decongest the ports by moving overtime containers to Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, which could not accommodate much because the ground was not strong enough.

Federal Government gave concessions to consignees to come forward to take delivery of their containers. Controversial circular 026 of 2008, introduced by the former comptroller general of customs, Hamman Bello Ahmed, was suspended.

Following the confusion that enveloped the Lagos ports during the period, licensed customs agents embarked on a three-day withdrawal of service, which led to a total paralysis of activities at the port and a near collapse of the Nigerian economy.

The terminal operators and shipping companies responded by offering various forms of waivers as incentives to consignees to take delivery of their containers. While APM Terninlas offered storage waiver charges and also suspended its progressive storage charges thereby losing several billions of Naira in the process, shipping companies under the aegis of the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) waived demurrages on long standing containers.

Board chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Tony Anenih, and

Comptroller General of Customs, Dr. Bernard Shaw Nwadialor, attributed the congestion to importers' penchant for inaccurate declaration of their goods, a situation, which makes it mandatory for cCustoms officials to carry out 100 percent physical examination on over 90 percent of containers.

However, the Transport minister has said that the perennial Lagos ports congestion will soon be a thing of the past as the Federal Government has concluded arrangements to build five additional sea ports in some parts of the country.

The minister, who disclosed this while on a facts finding mission to National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), in Lokoja, also restated the commitment of the President Yar'Adua led-administration to the dredging of the lower Niger River before the end of this year.

He said that "It is the desire of Mr. President that the perennial Lagos port congestion be address once and for all and has therefore giving approval that both new sea and inland ports be established to reduce the congestion."

"It is in the realisation of this objective that the president directed that following closely with the dredging of the Niger is the establishment of about four of five inland ports."

The minister added that the additional new seaports would be sited at Onitsha, Idah, Dekina, Lokoja and Baro in Niger State.