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| DG NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, |
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stressed the
importance of effective intermodal connectivity to port efficiency stating that
good Port- city linkage systems would facilitate seamless transport and create
immeasurable positive effect on the economy.
Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has stressed the
importance of effective intermodal connectivity to port efficiency stating that
good Port- city linkage systems would facilitate seamless transport and create
immeasurable positive effect on the economy.
Dr. Dakuku who made this known while speaking at the CRANS MONTANA
FORUM CLUB OF PORTS which held in Brussels Belgium, also noted that the
quality of the rail and road transport connection to a port has an impact on
the cargo throughput of the port.
FORUM CLUB OF PORTS which held in Brussels Belgium, also noted that the
quality of the rail and road transport connection to a port has an impact on
the cargo throughput of the port.
According to him “The efficiency of a port is measured by the average
quantity of import and export cargoes it is able to handle in a single day. A
port with bad road and rail facilities will have low cargo throughput, all
other factors remaining equal. While ships start and end their journey in
a port, the cargoes in most cases originate and end up far from the ports. This
in effect implies that without the connection of other modes of transport to a
seaport especially rail and road transport, the port becomes crippled and the
sea transport becomes inefficient.”
While noting that some Port Managements, particularly in developing countries
do not still understand the level of impact an effective intermodal
connectivity has on the efficiency of their ports, the NIMASA DG pointed out to
the International audience that Nigeria under the current leadership of
President Muhammadu Buhari through the Federal Ministry of Transportation is
investing heavily on linking all major sea ports and airports to the
cities through rail and good access roads to further boost the economy.
In his words “The Nigerian Government under the
leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is investing heavily in using rail to
link both the seaports and the airports to all major cities in the country. Our
quest to enhance the quality of the rail and road transport connection to all
ports in Nigeria is to ensure seamless transportation of goods and services
through the ports.”
leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is investing heavily in using rail to
link both the seaports and the airports to all major cities in the country. Our
quest to enhance the quality of the rail and road transport connection to all
ports in Nigeria is to ensure seamless transportation of goods and services
through the ports.”
Dr Dakuku opined that the turnaround time in most African ports is too high
because of the inefficiency and lack of necessary port infrastructure which
leads to longer dwell time for vessels and cargoes in the ports. He said
that the resultant effect is high demurrage, which is eventually passed over to
the final consumer.
Speaking further he noted that while transport cost adds between 2 to 5% to the
final cost of imported cargoes in developed countries, it is as much as 15 to
50 % in developing countries.
He charged port managements in other developing nations to invest in effective
intermodal connectivity to enhance their port operations, adding that an
efficient land transport system will ensure vessels idle time in the port is
highly minimized thereby reducing the turnaround time of vessels as well as
increasing the berth occupancy ratio of the port to make it more competitive
and more profitable.
