#EndSARS: Shippers Council, shipping companies mull removal of demurrage

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and shipping companies are mulling on the removal of demurrage on cargoes due to disruptions caused by #EndSARS protests.

Rakiya Zubairu, NSC head of public relations, described it as one of the ways to alleviate the hardship of shippers.

Demurrage is a charge paid to the owner of a chartered ship for inability to load or discharge a ship within the agreed time.

She said that activities at Apapa, the port city of Lagos, are gradually returning to normal after the disruption of the past week.

“The Lagos state government has also eased the curfew by pronouncing that residents can move freely between the hours of 6am and 8pm,” Zubairu said in a statement on Monday.

“And there is no doubt the activities of the past week caused a lot of disruptions for shippers just as it did during the COVID-19 lockdown,

“Nigerian Shippers Council is working with shipping companies to find ways to ease the hardship occasioned by the disruptions.”

Zubairu explained that several discussions are taking place between the leadership of the council and shipping companies in Nigeria.

This, she said, is to find ways to accelerate the clearing of cargoes from the terminals and collection of the same by shippers who were unable to access the ports.

Zubairu said that Hassan Bello, the executive secretary of NSC, will also visit some terminals to fine-tune discussions on the waiver and other issues.