Nigerian Ports Witness 4.5% Decline in Vessel Traffic

By Adedapo Adesanya

Vessel traffic calls into Nigerian ports dropped by 4.5 per cent after 3,778 ships berthed in 2023 compared with the 3,957 ships recorded in 2022.

In a port performance report presented at the quarterly meeting of the Nigerian Port Consultative Council this week, this shortfall happened as a result of the global economic downturn, which had a ripple effect on the Nigerian economy.

Cargo throughput (excluding crude oil) also recorded a drop of 6.4 per cent as a total of 70,475,671 metric tons in 2023 against 75,274,853 metric tons in 2022.

The report also indicated a drop in container traffic as 1,566,162 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2023 while 1,681,328 was recorded in 2022, representing a 6.8 per cent fall in container traffic.

However, there was a slight increase in the volumes of cargo that was brought into the nation’s ports as 122,873,684 tons were on record in 2023 as against 120,368,153 tons in 2022 showing an increase of 2.1 per cent.

“Container traffic during the period under review stood at 1,566,162 TEUs showing a decrease of 6.8 per cent from 1,681,328 TEUs handled in 2022. A further analysis of container traffic revealed that import container traffic accounted for 55.85 per cent with 874,683 TEUs, while export container traffic stood at 684,586 TEUs representing 43.71 per cent of total container traffic.

“A breakdown of export container traffic revealed that empty containers accounted for about 80 per cent of total export container traffic.

“A total of 132,293 units of vehicles were handled during the period under review indicating a decrease of 32 percent from 194,550 units in 2022.

“The average turn-around-time of vessels was 4.0 days, compared with 5.1 days I. 2022. It is, however, worth noting that the significant improvement in average turn-around time vessel was brought about by the impact of Lekki Deep Seaport which achieved a turnaround of only one day.

“The increase in GRT despite a drop in the number of vessel calls revealed berthing of bigger vessels, especially at Lekki Port where the average GRT of the vessel is 45,185 compared to Apapa with 30, 565 GRT. This further gives credence to the importance of a deep sea to the Nigerian Maritime or port development.

“Therefore, the collective efforts of all the stakeholders are required to ensure that Lekki Deep Seaport does not suffer the fate of Apapa concerning ease of cargo evacuation.”