However, not much attention has been paid to the evolution
of the employees some of whom worked in the Apapa port prior to the concession.
APM Terminals Apapa Shift Manager, Oluwatobi Oyelohunnu, and
Planning Superintendent, Raphael Okolo, were former Tally Clerks for Maersk
Line at the Apapa Port prior to 2006, ensuring accurate recording of vessel and
cargo details on the tally sheet.
“Back then, there were free access into the port and onto
the quay side for terminal workers and customers alike. Often times this led to
unsafe situations and potential for extortion, where some would try to make
extra money by facilitating quicker access to cargo or equipment.
“There was no proper delineation of job roles or proper
accountability for the unprofessional activities of terminal workers in the
ports,” Raphael said.
The safety of both terminal workers and the customers who
visited the ports was a big issue. All through Raphael’s time from 2002 to 2006
before the concession, he never came across any Safety Officer trying to
enforce safety standards at the port.
“Back then, if you just had on a boilersuit, you were
allowed to go to the quayside even without a hardhat and boots,” he added.
When APM Terminals came on the scene in 2006, the bar for
logistics professionals was taken higher. Some of the port workers like Raphael
and Tobi, who were employed into APM Terminals went through a job and attitude
orientation process.
Raphael said, “All employees went through several value
sessions where we were instructed on how to imbibe and exhibit the company
values while discharging our duties. They tried to change our mentality on how
terminal operations works and why the customer is a priority. The changes came
gradually. There were also lots of trainings on Safety and how to execute each
of our job roles.
“I started off as a Vessel Planner; trainers came in from
Malaysia and Holland to train us on vessel planning. They left between 2007 and
2008.”
Soon after, Raphael was sent to the Malaysian Port of
TanjungPelepas to understudy the Planning department during a week-long
training.
“Six of us went from Apapa. We observed the Planning
department is structured differently from Apapa. There was no Supervisory
position in Apapa’s Planning function. For instance, there are Vessel Planners,
Cargo Planners and Yard Planners. Each of these categories of planners, have
other planners working under them because it is a lot of work. In a particular
unit, you have four or three arms of that same job function doing different
things.
“Ours was not like that. You have a vessel planner watching
the vessel, planning the total containers discharged and loaded. A vessel
planner would plan and monitor all four vessels because we had four berths back
then,” he said.
Upon their return, all six employees wrote their findings in
a report and Apapa’s planning function was restructured based on that report.
For Oluwatobi, it was a similar experience once employed by
APM Terminals. He was exposed to various trainings on terminal operations of
which the knowledge was later adapted to suit the Apapa environment.
He said, “I have been here since the inception of APM
Terminals Apapa, started my career as a Vessel Planner. Soon after, I was sent
to Cameroun for two weeks and helped set up their Planning department.
“I later went to Dubai for another training session on
Terminal Management. You learn things like how to compete for customers, get an
edge in the market. It was a two-week training. From Dubai, I moved to the Port
of Salalah, Oman. It is a huge transhipment hub. They had a huge training
center which some of our equipment operators had gone to for training.”
For two months, Oluwatobi studied the Fundamentals of
Terminal Management through several webinars and assignments, where
participants were taught cost-efficiency measures in terminal operations.
“The Port of Salala is run differently from Apapa. There is
less involvement with government stakeholders. For instance, Port of Salalah
controls the harbours and pilotage. This makes vessel operations more efficient
because immediately you are done working on a vessel, you deploy a tugboat and
pilotage immediately. However, at Apapa different communication channels
between the various parties, often lead to idle time after the cargo operations
has completed.
“With each training I went to, I learned something new. Some
of these things have been implemented at Apapa. Best practice is what you pick
up. For instance, after my experience at Dubai and Salalah, I came to the
terminal at Apapa and suggested we change our pinning station position. The
pinning station is where our employees install and remove twist locks from
containers. The previous position was close to the Mobile Harbour Cranes which
was a huge safety issue. After I observed how the Port of Salalah positioned
theirs, we adapted the same thing at Apapa and move the pinning station to both
ends of the vessel,” Oluwatobi said, leading to a safer operation for our
lashing teams.
Other changes that have been effected at APM Terminals Apapa
include a lunch schedule for Equipment Operators that allowed terminal
operations continue undisturbed during lunch time.
“Back then, we used to stop operations during lunch and all
equipment operators would go off in the terminal shuttle to eat. When it is
time to come back to work, it takes so much time because some operators may not
have had their lunch by then because they had not been served. There was this
huge time gap, and we were losing so much in terms of manhours.
“While working as Planning Manager in Tema, Ghana in 2007, I
observed they had a lunch roster that ensured operations still went on during
lunch hours. Upon our return from Tema, we changed the format for lunch hours
in a such way that our operations didn’t shut down,” Raphael recalled.
For Oluwatobi, there is still a lot more to learn from more
advanced ports. He alongside three other colleagues from APM Terminals Apapa,
had in December 2023, visited Abidjan Terminal, Cote D Ivoire.
He said, “We were there to help them improve their crane
operations. We made some improvements and created a work instruction for them
on how Equipment Operators work.
“The terminal is a green terminal; their operations are
environmentally friendly. For instance, the terminal trucks don’t run on fuel;
they use rechargeable batteries. Same thing goes for the terminal shuttle bus,
their Ship-To-Shore cranes and Rubber Tyre Gantry cranes. The only container
equipment that runs on fuel is the Empty Handler and Reach stacker.
“Although the terminal’s capacity is smaller than Apapa’s,
they are looking to learn from more experienced terminals. I also noticed that
their port authorities are not visible in the port.”
Terminal Manager Steen Knudsen said, “One of our core values
is our employees; creating the right environment for them to work and give
their best. Training and re-training them is one of the ways we ensure they are
equipped with the right skills to provide world class services to our
customers.
“We invest a lot in the training and development of
Nigerians to not only take on senior roles in the company but also in the
industry. We also provide opportunities for our employees to move from one
function to another, picking up a new set of skills and more experience about
the business along the way.
“With each training and upskilling of our employees, the
terminal also evolves and upgrades its operations. Our goal is to provide world
class services to our customers and we can only do that by imbibing best
practices obtainable in other terminals around the world.”
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