Effectiveness of Containers in the Movement of Cargo in and Out of Tincan Island Port
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of containers in the movement of cargo in and out of Tincan Island Port. Below are the objectives to achieve this aim.
- To examine the operational effectiveness of container handling on cargo movement.
- To identify the constraints on the use of containers.
- To assess the level of security for the contents of the containers at the terminal, port or in transit.
- To examine the global acceptance of containers in easing shipping operations thereby facilitating international trade.
- To identify the contractual agreement in use of containers between the shipping companies and consignees.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA)
The NPA is the government owned parastatal charged with the responsibility of overseeing the operations of all the nation’s ports. It was established in 1954 under the port act of that year. The main functions of the NPA are:
- Provide and operate cargo-handling and quay facilities, Pilotage and stowage,
- Dredging of the channel and water ways,
- Provide for safe navigation into and out of the ports, Repairs and maintenance of vessels,
- Supply of water, and Other ancillary service.
The NPA is the chief custodian of the ports in the country (Nigeria) Providing man-power, facilities and equipments to carry out the day to day legislative and operational duties. The parastatal manages thirteen ports in the entire country. The present shape of the NPA as seen today culminated from the work of a Portuguese adventurer- John’Aveiro who opened the Bight of Benin in 1485; sixty eight years later, a Briton- Captain Wydham founded it6 This paved the way for Nigerian own maritime service which developed into the NPA inevitably creating its public service port structure model. In 1988, a degree (degree number 25) was promulgated empowering the NPA to be fully commercialized without any assistance from the government of the country. Under this development, the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) was faced with new challenges to properly and efficiently run the operations and administration of the ports without any governmental assistance or interference and make profit as a commercial outfit remaining competitive in the West African sub region.
The port is still inundated with the problem of long waiting time and tedious documentation process in spite of effort carried out by the authority to remedy the situation. Freight charges rank among the world’s highest, a situation threatening to take huge cargo shares away from the nation’s port.
Tin Can Island (TCI) Port.
The Tin Can Island port was built in 1977 to ease its neighbouring port – Apapa port – which was experiencing congestion at the time when the country was experiencing boom in imports and in the economy. The port comprises of two lighter terminals, associated jetties and commutates with another port, RoRo port. The installed capacity of the port is adequate with an area of 73 hectares; it also has within its scope the Ikorodu lighter terminal and associated jetties.7 The main facilities in the port are; 11 berths of which seven of them are for dry bulk cargo. Quay length of the berth ranges from 180 to 200 meters, and the combined maximum draught of the port is put at 10.5 meters.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The study employs quantitative descriptive research design to study the effectiveness of containers in the movement of cargo in and out of tincan island port in Lagos.
Research Area
This study was carried out in Tincan Island port, Lagos state. A state in the south western part of Nigeria.
Sources of Data
The study made use of both primary and secondary data.
The researcher personally went to the port with questionnaires to take statistics and get information concerning the research.
Publications from NPA Lagos, and other newspaper publications, the internet and textbook information provided some information useful for the research work.
Population of the study
A study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The population of this study consists of fourty workers in Tincan island Lagos.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULT PRESENTATION
Social-economic data of respondents
Age of the Respondents
In this study the analysis of age composition revealed that the age of respondents range between 26 and 50 plus. According to Table 4.1, about 31.7% percent of the total population belongs to the age group of 31-35 and 29.3% follow to the age 36 – 40. On the other hand, about 22.0% of respondents fall in the age of 50+ and 17.1% only belong to the age of 26 – 30.
Gender of the Respondents
Looking at Table 4.2, one finds that 80.5% percent of the respondents who participated in this study were male and the rest percent of the respondents were female. The reason for high number of male than female was due to the fact that manual activities related cargo are traditionally regarded as men‟s work (oriented).
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of Findings
The foregoing has been a quantitative discussion on the analysis of containers effectiveness and cargo pilferage in Nigerian seaports; pre and post concession era.
The following are the findings of this research work.
- The the people working in Tincan island port were average ages
- Both males and females were employed in the ports but the males were much.
- That, cargo pilferage had a direct and indirect negative bearing on the performance of the Nigerian ports system viz-a-viz, port security, cargo security, cargo handling, and port’s global image and perception.
- That cargo pilferage has had no significant impact on ports revenue earnings as such the evident neglect of the other negative effects of cargo pilferage on the Nigeria port system by relevant authorities.
Conclusion
Cargo pilferage within the ports in Nigeria is a common crime with an uncommon effect. It distorts the door to door aim of global maritime logistic and supply chain thus making it vulnerable. The Nigerian seaports have suffered greatly from this logistic malady as such making the shipping industry suffer huge financial loss as well as the nation at large.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.Strong and encompassing policy backed up with legislative act should be promulgated to truly check mate cargo pilferage/theft just as it is in other developed and developing maritime economy such as USA, Brazil, Canada etc. such policy must have a workable legal framework for ease of implementation.
2.Concessionaries must align with all relevant security agencies such as the Nigeria port police, Nigeria police force, NPA security department etc to ensure total security within the port area especially the security and safety of cargoes.
3.Provision of computer based or electronic devices, used in the security of ports area such as CCTV and other electronic security camera devices. This will help in 24-hours monitory of the activities in the ports.
4.Concessionaires must ensure due diligence in ensuring that cargoes that call at their terminals are safe and well handled.
5.The Nigeria Ports Authority must in their supervisory role ensure that concessionaires comply with all international standards for safety of cargoes at port and ensure that cargo pilfering is eliminated in individual terminals, also adhere to the agreement of providing sophisticated and modern cargo handling equipment.
6.That Port Operators, that are concerned with cargo handling process and port security agents should be trained and re-trained with best global practices on how to avoid cargo pilfering/theft in Nigerian ports.
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