Following the emergence of the new strain of the Covid-19 virus in some countries of the world, the Port Health Services (PHS) said it would go forward to pay special attention to vessels arriving from Brazil, South Africa and India to Nigerian seaports.
Geoffrey Okatubo, director of Port Health Services, disclosed this when Hassan Bello, executive secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), paid a courtesy visit to the PHS in Abuja as part of efforts to implement the Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM) through collaboration, according to a statement by Rakiya Yagboyaju, head, Public Relations of the Council.
Okatubo, who congratulated the NSC on its appointment by the Federal Government as the lead agency to coordinate and supervise the implementation of the NPPM, assured that the proposed 30 – 45 minutes vessel inspection to remove the delay, could be achievable as long as there is no issue with the ship.
“Inspections can take longer than 45 minutes because of the peculiarities of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has given rise to more activities onboard vessels. These include checking the temperature and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Covid-19 test of the entire crew,” he said.
He added that the PHS is working towards publishing penalties for infractions and is also solidly behind the Council, in the performance of its roles and responsibilities.
Earlier, Hassan Bello emphasised the need to clean up the ports by embracing orderliness, efficiency and zero corruption.
He described the NPPM as a useful and important manual that all relevant agencies in the port system should abide by.
He further stated that since doing business at the port is tied to time, there is a need for the Port Health Services, as the first agency to interact with vessels and crew, to reduce the time spent on board, by performing their inspection between 30 – 45 minutes with a maximum of three officers.
Bello added that the turnaround time for ships can also be reduced through a pre-arrival communication between the vessels and the PHS, so that every activity performed on the arrival of vessels on Nigeria’s shores would be for verification alone.
Bello however noted that one area of concern that enables corrupt practices at the ports are vessel agents offering transportation to inspecting agencies. This, he noted should be provided by the government or the PHS.
While encouraging the Port Health to reach out to the Council with any issue, Bello suggested that the PHS publish infractions committed by vessels calling at Nigerian ports.
