Local suppliers of groceries and other supplies for ships, known as chandlers, have decried a loss of about $4 billion (about N1.693 trillion) annually as the business is being taken over by foreigners.
How to become a chandler
A ship chandler is a person who exclusively deals in supplying to a shipping vessel its required commodities. Just as a grocer supplies food grains to households, a ship chandler supplies essentially required commodities to a ship and its crew.
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The job of a ship chandler is very unique because it caters specifically for only a line of business, thereby allowing a complete exclusiveness to both parties – the seller as well as the client. Because of this exclusiveness and the nature of the profession, each and every ship chandler is held in high esteem and regard.
The chandler ensures that incoming ocean vessels are quickly prepared and fully stocked with food, beverages etc ahead of their next voyage. They do so by acting as a one-stop shop for incoming ships. This eliminates the need for the ship to waste their time finding and contacting various individual suppliers.
According to shipserve.com, some of the marine suppliers of chandler in Nigeria are Mare Supply and Services, a Turkish firm. AVS Global Ship Supply and Management is registered in South Africa and servicing ships in 126 countries at 1400 ports in catering, ropes and wires and cables supplies; Walvis Bay Ship Chandlers, a foreign firm, specializes in the supply of deck, engine and provision stores. Gochan Concept Limited is another foreign chandling firm in Nigeria focusing on provisions supply, bond store, engine store, deck store, cabin stores among others for ships operating or coming into Nigeria.
According to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) which registers chandlers, the process is unrestricted as long as applicants fulfill the requirements. Applicants would need to write a letter of application to the Port Manager with the following documents to be accompanied by Certificate of Registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), three years Tax Clearance Certificate, Customs approval with Form C1.
Chandlers are also required to pay a registration fee of around N200,000 to the NPA revenue account and the request will be processed in six weeks. The certificate is valid for one year and renewable annually, NPA stated on its website.
According to the Nigerian Licensed Ship Chandlers Association (NILSCA), it is Criminal to use illegal/unlicensed Ship Chandler for your Supplies/Operation. “You will be prosecuted if you do,” it emphasized.
The association said it was registered since 1986 with registration certificate (RC) No: 3279 with the then Ministry of Internal Affairs now Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The Association itself has been established since 1958 and had been running for years now.
From a database provided by the association, as of 2018, there were 145 licensed Nigerian chandlers some of which are Ango Yakubu Umar Ltd, Maystar Marine Services, E-Tiana Ventures, Ikoko & Sons, and Rebecca Nigeria Ltd.
Local operators kick
Speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday, some operators said the foreign chandlers have taken over the business from locals. They are accusing International Oil Companies (IOCs) as well as foreign liners of working against the interest of indigenous ship chandlers.
Citing the Cabotage Act, that protects the interest of indigenous ship owners, they said same privilege should be accorded to them by all relevant government agencies.
The Cabotage Act allows for the participation of indigenous shipping companies in coastal trade. They alleged that despite the fact that their operations are closely related to that of shipping liners, foreign chandlers have continued to rise in the last six years.
Felix Anaye-Benson, a Lagos-based ship chandler, said the nation has also lost over 500 direct employment and about 20,000 indirect jobs as a result of the involvement of foreigners in the business.
Anaye-Benson also explained the inability of Nigeria to design policy that will favour local operators also accounts for the decline.
He said financial burdens and lack of government support have also forced about 95 per cent of Nigerians out of business.
“Ship chandlery is one of the wings in the maritime sector that generate foreign exchange into the government’s coffers because everything we do has to revolve around dollars,” he said.
The chandler notes that the coastal operations which ordinarily would have been revenue spinner interns of foreign exchange have been hijacked.
While lamenting the inability of the government to provide incentives for local ship chandlers, their foreign counterparts have more financial muscle to wrestle lucrative jobs.
“Shipping companies prefer to deal with foreigners despite local content which ought to give us an upper hand. But the law is being shelved aside by shipping companies who engage the services of the foreigners, as against the law,” he added.
Also speaking on the issue, the National President, National Council of Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, said the ship chandling business is facing a lot of challenges.
Amiwero highlighted some of the challenges to include lack of capital, adding that it has left the business and the industry in the hands of foreign operators.
“In the 60s, 70s and 80s, ship chandlery thrived within the port environment. But for now, it is not as booming as it used to be for the local chandlers. So, there is a need for the government to intervene and see how they can have a supporting role because it is an area where a lot of foreign exchange can be repatriated back into the country,” he said.
According to him, ship chandlery is supposed to be handled by Nigerians because they actually obtained their licences from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Further explaining, he said: “Ship chandlers provide those things that ships need, which will make the ship last for the time being. They have ship stores and all the rest, which include food and other things. The issue of foreign dominance is not only synonymous with ship chandling. If you go to Customs agents, you have the same problem and the rest.
“The ship chandling business is a supplying thing and it needed a kind of government participation to assist the ship chandlers to be able to have more capital base to be able to do this job,” he added.
No law stops foreign chandlers in Nigeria – Customs
In clarifying the role of foreign chandlers in Nigeria, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service, Deputy Comptroller Timi Bomodi, said there is no law stopping foreigners from participating in ship chandling operations.
Bomodi said the chandling business is like supermarket operations where anyone can own and operate one.
“They are just crying wolf where there is none. The Customs give licenses to those who are qualified to do chandling business,” he added.
