The port city of Apapa in the Apapa Local Government Area in Lagos State has been yearning for the attention of the state government. The long established city plays host to two very active Seaports and many Tank Farms.
The Seaports include the Tin Can Island Port and the premier Port at Apapa. Needless to talk about the numerous corporate bodies including banks, industrial outfits, shipping companies that abound the whole length and breath of the city.
But in the recent times, the Port city has been witnessing a lot of traffic
Due largely to the absence of rail services that will facilitate easy movement of goods in and out of the ports. This has created a lot of traffic hurdles for vehicles too, as trailers, trucks and private cars are forced to get to their destinations by road.
This traffic mayhem has created nightmare for the residents of Apapa, especially around the Government Reserved Area(GRA).Daily, the residents are confronted with so many hazards, including environmental, security and infrastructural inadequacies.
Part of the environmental problems include blocked drainages which lead to excessive flooding of the whole of Apapa. This is apart from the fact that there is no gutter in some areas.
Apapa is also confronted with security threats. Because of the heavy vehicular traffic, Apapa hosts all sorts of persons that are addicted to crimes and criminalities. Miscreants are daily terrorizing the inhabitants of the Port city.
Coupled with all of these problems, Apapa is made up of so many failed roads, aside Port holes which make vehicular movements near impossible. These roads should be fixed as soon as possible in order to ensure free flow of vehicular traffic.
Also, there is need to construct road inter-changes and roundabouts in order to solve the myriad of problems confronting Apapa. Some of these roads are as old as the Port city itself. They are yearning for resurfacing. Also, traffic lights should, as a matter of urgency, be installed at junctions to engender optimal traffic flow. The city has been seeking attention from the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as the Lagos state government. Security has to be beefed up at the Waterside part of the city as a lot of miscreants access the GRA through the Ajegunle link Bridge. It goes without saying that the market at waterside also breeds security breaches at the GRA.35% Of Shipping Companies committed to IMO targets Of 50% emission reduction
A new study examining
the top shipping companies’ commitment to decarbonization shows that only 35% have a clearly expressed emissions target to be net zero by 2050. The assessment, conducted by the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, draws on published de-carbonization ambitions and actions of the largest companies by owned capacity in tanker, bulk, container, and RORO/car segments. Together, these four segments cause a substantial share (70%) of global maritime emissions.
The state of de-carbonization in the maritime industry shows that while real progress has been made, there is a long way to go for the industry to reach net zero within the limited time left to transition. A comparison with other industries suggests that 35% of shipping companies with IMO or net zero 2050 pledges is low. A 2020 KPMG report looking at top-100 companies by revenue in 52 countries across industries, found that 66% of automotive, 56% of oil and gas, and 45% of transport and leisure companies had sustainability reports with carbon reduction targets.
“The MMMCZCS strongly encourages shipowners to set ambitious emissions reduction targets, preferably aligned with a net zero ambition for 2050 or sooner and supplement the pledges with tangible targets and plans already for this decade,” said Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO of the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
“Transparency is key for the transition, and there is no doubt that ship owners and operators will increasingly need to be transparent about climate target and actions – not only towards regulators but also to live up to expectations from customers, investors, insurance, the greater public – and not least employees,” continued Bo Cerup-Simonsen.
While action is needed from shipowners, regulators also need to step up and implement mandatory reporting requirements of climate-related impacts subject to third party auditing. Requirements should rely on global standards to increase comparability and avoid creating additional reporting burdens, the MMMCZS recommends.
The analysis shows that the container industry has the highest level of ambition with 16 of the 30 largest firms in the segment having set emissions targets to a 2050 timeline. This translates to 69% of the total container maritime fleet capacity in owned deadweight tonnage.
Shipping’s roadmap to decarbonization
With 100.000 ships consuming around 300 million metric tons of fuel p.a. global shipping accounts for around 3% of global carbon emissions, a share that is likely to increase as other industries tackle climate emissions in the coming decades.
Achieving the long-term target of decarbonization requires new fuel types and a systemic change within the industry. Shipping is a globally regulated industry, which provides an opportunity to secure broad-based industry adoption of new technology and fuels.
To accelerate the development of viable technologies a coordinated effort within applied research is needed across the entire supply chain. Industry leaders play a critical role in ensuring that laboratory research is successfully matured to scalable solutions matching the needs of industry. At the same time, new legislation will be required to enable the transition towards decarbonization.
Ukraine says Russian ship carrying Ukrainian grain detained by Turkey
Turkish customs
authorities have detained a Russian cargo ship carrying grain which Ukraine says is stolen, Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey said on Sunday.
Ukraine had previously asked Turkey to detain the Russian-flagged Zhibek Zholy cargo ship, according to an official and documents viewed by Reuters.
Reuters reporters saw the Zhibek Zholy ship anchored about 1 km from shore and outside of the Karasu port on Sunday, with no obvious signs of movement aboard or by other vessels nearby.
“We have full co-operation. The ship is currently standing at the entrance to the port, it has been detained by the customs authorities of Turkey,” Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said on Ukrainian national television.
Bodnar said the ship’s fate would be decided by a meeting of investigators on Monday and that Ukraine was hoping for the confiscation of the grain.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain from the territories that Russian forces have seized since Moscow’s invasion began in late February. The Kremlin has previously denied that Russia has stolen any Ukrainian grain.
A Ukrainian foreign ministry official, citing information from Ukraine’s maritime administration, told Reuters on Friday the 7,146 dwt Zhibek Zholy had loaded the first cargo of some 4,500 tonnes of Ukrainian grain from Berdyansk, a Russian-occupied port in south Ukraine.
The region’s Sakarya port authority was not immediately available for comment. Turkey’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Max Hunder in Kyiv, Mehmet Caliskan and Omer Berberoglu in Karasu, and Arza Ceylan in Istanbul.
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