BY COLLINS VERSHIMA
The Nigerian Shipper’s Council has saved a whooping N2.7bn between 2020 to 2022 under the watch of Rt.Hon( Barr).Emmanuel Lyambee Jime as Executive Secretary.
According to a statement by the Nigerian Shippers Council headed by Barr. Emmanuel Lyambee Jime, the NSC said the N2.7bn between 2020 to 2022 fund could have been lost to shipping companies, and terminal operators through demurrages, among others.
The Head of Public Relations Unit NSC, Rekiya Dhikoru in the statement said during the period under review, it recorded a total of 1,727 complaints.
In the breakdown of the figures, the Council said the year 2021 had a crescending rate of complaints by shippers with 666 cases dealt with and N2.5bn was recovered for the trading public in 2021.
Interestingly, a total of 648 cases of complaints were recorded in the year 2020 despite the Coronavirus Pandemic, with N57m recovered.
In 2022, a total of 413 cases was recorded, which was a clear indication of a marked improvement in the drop of complaints by the trading public, with a sum of N204m recovered for the stakeholders- the shippers and freight forwarders.
Barr. Jime stated that some of them are excessive charges while some are demurrage or container deposit refunds among others. Some are also on damages of Cargo, he added.
Meanwhile, under the watch of Hon. Emmanuel Jime as the CEO of the Nigerian Shippers Council, the Port Economic Regulator observed that despite the decrease in the volume of Cargoes in the Country’s Seaports, demurrage and detention remained high.
Jime also urged also urged importers and exporters to ensure that they engage professional logistics service providers to handle the clearing and delivery processes of their Cargoes to ensure that all containers are returned promptly without accruing demurrage or detention charges
