Cutting demurrage: a 7-day clearance playbook
Most delay at Apapa is paperwork, not congestion. Here is the pre-arrival sequence we run on every consignment.
Demurrage is rarely caused by the port being full. It is caused by a document that was not ready when the vessel arrived, and by the days spent chasing it afterwards.
The sequence we run starts the moment the booking is confirmed, not the moment the vessel berths. Form M and the PAAR are filed against the proforma invoice while the cargo is still at origin, so duty assessment is settled before arrival rather than after.
By the time the manifest is transmitted, the file should contain the bill of lading, the packing list, the certificate of origin and the SONCAP or NAFDAC clearance where the goods call for one. Anything missing at that point is a day of storage, and storage compounds.
The last step is the one most often skipped: confirming the terminal has the release before the truck is dispatched. A truck that arrives at a gate without a valid release does not wait cheaply.