The Logistics Sector on the Southern Shores of the Western ... - cetmo

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Logistics</strong> <strong>Sector</strong>on the Southern Shores of the Western Mediterranean October 2010• <strong>The</strong> major general-cargo ports are Tripoli, Benghazi and Misurata. <strong>The</strong> latter is the onlyport open 24 hours a day and for the last three years it has had a 2,500-ha free zone,through which around 3 million tonnes of cargo pass every year. It also has a steelcomplex and a steel port, and an expansion project for heavy industry aims to expand thefree zone by 3,000 hectares. Misurata is a deep-water port and handles almost 50% ofthe total freight that passes through Libyan ports, and plans to make it a strategic porthub for North Africa were discussed with the European Union.• Prices for port services: <strong>The</strong>re is a list of prices put forward by the Libyan Ports &Maritime Transport Authority (LPMTA) and approved by the Ministry of Transportation,which was previously discussed by the port authorities and the SPC. <strong>The</strong> prices appliedcorrespond exactly to the approved list. <strong>The</strong> prices of the port authorities include pricesfor tankers and for cargo, with the former being higher in Libya.Regulation and Government Control• Libya has been a member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) since 1971and is hoping to be included soon on the Standards of Training, Certification &Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention 95 white list. Non-inclusion is a problem at present,as vessels sailing under the Libyan flag are operated by Libyans and, although theircrews are trained, this training does not meet the international standards set by the IMO.Libya passed a maritime law that made the Libyan Ports & Maritime Transport Authority(LPMTA) responsible for planning, administration and control of the country’s maritimeand port industries. <strong>The</strong> LPMTA is not involved in port operation, however; this is theresponsibility of each port authority or operators such as the SPC.<strong>The</strong> usual process is for maritime laws to be revised every five to seven years, inaccordance with IMO standards. At present, the LPMTA is helping the Ministry carry outa benchmarking study of Maghreb and Gulf countries in order to determine whichregulations work best and can be adapted most successfully to the Libyan context. <strong>The</strong>study will be used to reform the country’s maritime traffic laws.Business Structure• Maritime transport in Libya is provided by the foreign shipping companies that serve WestAfrica (Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, Grimaldi, Neptun, Senator, Tarros and others). <strong>The</strong>country’s national shipping company is the General National Maritime TransportCompany, which at present is dedicated to oil traffic, although it wishes to diversify intoother activities.• <strong>The</strong> State-owned SPC provides port services such as pilotage, towing, handling,warehousing and interior transport to Tripoli, Benghazi, Derna, Ras-Lanuf, El-Brega,Alkhoms, Tobruk and Zwara ports. Misurata port and its free zone are operated by theMisurata Free Zone Company. <strong>The</strong> specialized terminals (steel, oil) are operated by therelevant industrial companies.• <strong>The</strong>re are around 300 forwarding agents (although many of them work for only three orfour clients) and a similar number of customs agents. <strong>The</strong> two professions are incompetition with one another, as the forwarding agents also have customs agents due tothe necessity of having such a figure to handle import and export procedures withcustoms. <strong>The</strong>re is also competition between forwarding agents and shipping agents, whoare legally permitted to carry out freight-consolidation operations and have their owncustoms-controlled warehouses.CETMO 49