Ship Turnaround Time and Vessel Traffic in Nigerian Ports: A Correlation Analysis

The study investigated the correlation between ship turnaround time and vessel traffic in four Nigerian ports of Onne, Rivers, Delta and Calabar with a view to providing empirical justification for or against the assertion that long ship turnaround time in Nigeria ports is associated with the declining trend of vessel calls at the ports. Secondary data on the ship turnaround time (STRTt) and ship traffic (STt) of the ports were obtained from Nigeria ports Authority (NPA). The data obtained for each of the variables covered a period of 10 years between 2010 and 2019. The statistical tools of correlation analysis and trend analysis were used to analyze the data obtained. It was found that the effects of the of ship turnaround time on vessel calls to ports are port specific, suggesting that factors other than ship turnaround time, such proximity to shippers location, port charges and ship dues, cargo safety, absence of bottlenecks in the customs and clearing process, etc., may interact to influence the choice of ports. The study also found that there is a weak association/relationship between ship turnaround time in ports and ship traffic/ship calls at ports. The result also indicates that the Nigerian ports are far from achieving the global average benchmark ship turnaround time. The Average ship turnaround time in Onne port is about 49% while Delta port is about 92% higher than the global average benchmark of 2days in port. Calabar and Rivers ports have respective 150% and 241% higher ship turnaround times than the global average benchmark. It was recommended that port authorities and terminal operators should work to reduce the high ship turnaround time in Nigerian ports to meet with global average benchmark among other things.