KIZILAY LOADINGS

Year : 2016

• Tones : 11007
• Pol : Mersin
• POD : Bosaso – Berbera - Cibuti
• Name of Vessel : M/V Lila

Nora International Forwarding Co Ltd

Documentary

18.10.2016

TURKISH RED CRESCENT

ETHIOPIA - SOMALILAND & PUNTLAND 11.000 TON HUMANITARIAN AID UNLOADING OPERATION

In this article which is an annotation, I will try to convey the feverish work, planning, organization and operation details underlying our unloading operation of 11.000 TON humanitarian aid materials completed in 17 days by with the same ship to 3 different African ports while a similar action was completed in 4.5 months by the institution.

The main element of the operation was based on the preparation of all ship arrivals at the port of unloading by making an exploration visit to the port before the ship arrival and making final decision on the agency selection and completing all relevant bureaucratic, operational, political, military (security), documentary, operational and customs preparations.

The first stop, Ethiopia shipment, had to be unloaded and transferred through the port of Djibouti due to the fact that this country was not bounded by the sea. After 2500 TONS of sacked flour and sugar were unloaded through this port, they were planned to be transported to “SAMARA Drought and Disaster Depots” in Ethiopia, 550 km away from Djibouti by trucks.

ADEN GULF MAP

We completed our preliminary negotiations with 4 local logistics companies that we have identified there by making our first visit to Djibouti between 05-10 September, 1 week before departure date of the ship, with the departure scheduled after unloading on September 11, 2016. As a result of our negotiations, we also contacted with Djibouti Turkish Ambassador Mr. SadiAltınok. With one of these 4 companies which he later referred to, we made an agreement in principle and returned to our country. During this visit, we became aware of the difficulties such as heavy port congestion, difficulties in finding trucks in Ethiopia, customs bureaucracy, post-unloading storage requirement, the requirement of container and bulk unloading processes at different terminals and uncertainty at the terminals due to excessive density. We started to take different measures and preparations in this regard. Mr. Ambassador invited us for the second time in our visit and introduced us to “Port Of Djibouti – Business Development Manager” Mr. Hassan Robleh. At the meeting, after the chat we had with him, we made a request for our ship to dock immediately without waiting on the anchor and then to make both container and bulk unloding operations in the same terminal. Later on, we took his appointments from different companies, mainly domestic ship owners, port investment and steel industry, and hosted him in Turkey for his visit regarding the business development in the week after the feast.

Under normal circumstances, the unloading procedure at Djibouti port progresses as follows;

• The ships that desire to dock wait anchored and offshore at least for 30 days for their unloading turn and acceptance to the port.

• The ship that has the turn completes the unloading procedure at the container terminal and is sent to offshore again and kept anchored for the purpose of "Shifting" to the other unloading port. This time can be between 15 and 20 days.

• During this period, containers that have been firstly unloaded are transferred to a customs warehouse for unloading and customs clearance and transfer with the other bulk unloading materials. Warehousing starts there.

• When it is turn of the ship, it is invited to the unloading terminal again where it can leave the port by docking at this terminal and unloading the bulk cargo at this terminal.

• These unloaded materials are transferred to the same customs warehouse as the materials previously unloaded from the containers, and time is taken to complete the customs clearance.

• Customs clearance for materials to be transferred to Ethiopia at the port of Djibouti is made separately for both countries. Following the customs clearance procedure completed in Ethiopia, manifest entries are also conducted with these references at Djibouti port. During this customs clearance, which is monitored in very painful and primitive conditions, a lot of information loss and declaration mistakes are likely to occur and these mistakes also cause long waits.

• The loads with completed customs clearance procedures are transferred to Ethiopia by trucks. The decisive factor here is the ability and advantage of the agency to find trucks. Companies that do not have enough suppliers to find trucks also waste time in this process. All these holdings cause warehouse and storage costs at high levels.

STOWAGE PLAN

PORT OF DJIBOUTI

Another important aspect of the operation was that escort service would be provided for security throughout the unloading by the Naval Forces Command corvette in ADA class named "Büyükada (F512)" from the Suez channel exit, and the frigate would escort our ship through the entire unloading procedure. In the disciplined structure of our navy, the soldiers had to ask us to mention not only the day but also the "hour" related to docking and departure every time, and if these hours were not complied, serious complaints, warnings and protests would be filed at General Staff Level.

TCG BUYUKADA

After determining all the risks in Djibouti port, we went back to Turkey on September 10, 2016 and continued to work during the feast holiday.

The MV LILA ship, of which loading process was completed on the eve of Bayram on September 11, 2016 in a successful manner and in accordance with the schedule, departed from the “Mersin” port.

MV LILA Mersin Port Underloading Operation

We worked for the whole feast (bairam) holiday and obtained the documents such as Packing List, Invoice, Bills of Lading copies and originals, Donation documents from the Turkish Red Crescent for the preparations of Djibouti port with the aim of completing the customs procedures and we delivered courier deliveries to our Djibouti and Ethiopia contacts for the purpose of completing customs before ship arrival. Our aim was to save time by completing the Djibouti and Ethiopia customs procedures before the ship arrived.

We also arrived at Djibouti from Istanbul with direct flight option with THY to monitor the unloading of our ship on September 19, 2016 after the holiday of Eid.

Taking into consideration the vulnerability, strategic importance and liability to delays and problems; I requested our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send an official letter to relevant Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Puntland (Mogadishu) Embassies and Consulates before the Djibouti trip, kindly asking them to provide all kinds of support to our company that is in charge of the unloading process due to the strategic importance of the action. After this request, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent the relevant letter. This step was an important milestone for the operation…

T.R. DJIBOUTI EMBASSY

In Djibouti, all our preparations and strategy after arrival of the ship;

• Immediate docking of our ship without waiting anchored.

• To keep the dock empty and obtain priority for our ship in this direction.

• All of the cargoes, some of which are in the container (34 X 20’ Konteyner) and some of which are in BIG BAG and some of which are bulk ( sacked – FLOUR 25 KG / SUGAR 50 KG) would be unloaded in the container terminal so as to prevent waiting of the ship in the queue by shifting and anchoring offshore.

• All Djibouti and Ethiopia customs clearance procedures would be completed prior to the ship's arrival and the goods would be transported directly to the trucks at the arrival (SUPALAN Unloading) and trucks would be directly transferred to the Ethiopia / Samara region.

• By making our contacts and planning with the agency, all trucks would be supplied and would be ready under the ship to avoid shortcomings of vehicles.
• Explaining to competent authorities that it was possible to carry out the bulk and container unloading which is contrary to the normal procedure in the same terminal, and prepare accordingly.

• It would make sure that there are no missing customs declarations and documents.

As a result of our coordination with our Embassy and Port Of Djibouti Management, our ship was included in “Diplomatic Clearence” scope. We completed our preparations in the density of all the authorities because of the coincidence with the eid holiday. After 9 days of cruising, our ship came to Djibouti on September 20th and anchored there. Exactly 24 hours later, passing through dozens of waiting ships, it began docking at the berth reserved for it.

Thanks to my queries; it was found out that deterioration may occur due to the overheating in the container in case of transfer of the sacked flour with the container at the temperature of 50 degrees Celsius due to the extreme hot climate. to material overflowing. At the last moment, the materials delivered in a container were unloaded to a warehouse in the free zone, and these materials were transferred as sacked together with other materials. However, this did not affect the waiting period of the ship and the unloading operation was completed on 25/09/2016, in just 4 days.

While we completed our unloading process and our ship set for the next port “Berbera”, other aid ships kept waiting anchored. And among them was an USA Ship which had been waiting offshore for more than 20 days…

The unloaded freight was transferred to the Samara Disaster Depots in Ethiopia Simultaneously and coordinately. This process, during which tiny problems and short delays were experienced, was resolved in a short time with the support the employees of our company resident in Djibouti throughout the operation, and thus the continuity of the operation was provided.

While we were busy unloading of the ship, the military ship “Büyükada” was included in the scope of the Diplomatic Clearance again and docked at a separate terminal, where we completed the purchase of fuel & caskets.

After this operation, which was completed with a deviation of 1 day from the normal scheduled term, we received a protest letter from the General Staff.  You can find below the letter and our response. As we can understand from this protest letter, we were supposed to carry out this operation which we try to realize in this difficult geography in parallel to the operational capability and timing sensitivity of our Navy at the same time.

TO PRIME MINISTRY DISASTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PRESIDENCY   0040

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From: Yakup Akin - Nora/Izmir
Sent:Friday, September 23, 2016 3:11 PM
To: 'YaseminAktaş'; GökhanDudu; 'Kerem Coşar (kerem.cosar@kizilay.org.tr)'; UtkuAkbaş; EceYılmaztürk
Cc: 'SerhatTangor'; OYA ERDOGAN; Gurhan Surmeli - Nora/Izmir; Ugur Ozgun - Nora/Izmir; Koray Akin - Nora/Izmir
Subject:Djibouti - Berbera - Bosasoports unloading operation

Hello Miss Ece,

Please find below our explanations regarding the warning letter from the Turkish Naval Force which is the subject of our phone conversation;

- In the relevant letter, the Naval Force stated that the MV LILA ship arrived 1 day early to the exit of the Suez and waited for the "Buyukada" corvette there, which made the situation negative. Despite the fact that the subject waters are not risky in terms of piracy activities and the coordinates of the meeting were already pointed out, we do not understand the reason why it was regarded negative that the MV LILA ship arrived at this spot one day before and waited for our frigate. Moreover, it had already been notified to you that the ship would wait for the Büyükada frigate 1 day in these coordinates gerekseand the Naval Force before the ship left the Turkish land waters.  If we had been informed that this situation would be negatively perceived by our navy, we could have made our ship wait for one day in port or Turkish territorial waters, and we could have arranged the arrival for the same day with our frigate at the meeting point.

- Again, the letter says"It was stated that the subject matter MvLilaship will be in the Djibouti port for a very short time (6-12 hours) before leaving Turkey, but this period was elongated up to 3-4 days before arrival at the port". I would very much like to ask you to find out which institution or institution informed the Naval Forcesthat we would be staying in Djibouti port for 6-12 hours. It is not our company which stated that unloading of 2500 tons of material would be completed within 6-12 hours in Djibouti port; rather, it was foreseen as 3-4 days in writing in the following voyages. 

- It was said that the MV Lila's Djibouti arrival took place one day prior to the planned date, and this situation was described as negative. However, in fact, during the entire transfer and cruising, your institution and the Naval Forces Operation Training Department were informed about the Djibouti arrival regularly and the estimated arrival data was stated as 20.09.2016 many days earlier, by showing maximum diligence on this subject. In this regard, we inform you that we are ready to forward all of our written messages to your Authority.I would also like to ask you to inquire about the origin of the contact loss with the Naval Forces.

The regions in which the operations are conducted are the unquestionably most difficult and primitive regions of the world to conduct operations, cargo handling and planning, and preparations have been made for all kinds of commercial and official channels so that operation can be completed without any problems.It is known that the ships of Heavy Port Congestion will wait at least 45 days for commercial ships and for ships carrying relief goods for at least 30 days on berth due to the Djibouti port congestion. You can confirm this information with our Djibouti Ambassador or our Port Of Djibouti Authority. However, with the support of us and Respected Ambassador Mr. SadiAltınok, the ship waited for only one day anchored for the customs procedure, and started to be unloaded upon being accepted to the port immediately within the scope of Diplomatic Clearence. Before our ship arrived at the port of Djibouti, both Ethiophia and Djibouti customs procedures were completed, and the transfer to the EthiopiaSamara Disaster Depots was started directly through the ship without waiting under the scope of "Supanal Unloading", and it still continues. Considering that ship unloading is planned to be completed as of 24.09.2016 22:00,  total waiting time of such an humanitarian aid operation,of which unloading, anchorage and customs cleareance were planned to take 45 days under normal conditions, in the anchorage and in the port of Djibouti will be 5 days. We are having difficulty in understanding that it has become a matter of criticism that our ship arrived at the port 1 day earlier than planned.

At this moment we are personally in Berbera port and all preparations for docking are continuing in this port and all preparations are completed. The same work has also been initiated for Bosaso port and our goal is to get the minimum period of waiting time in anchorage and in the ports to complete the transfers in the fastest, regular and planned way. Considering the frigate of the Naval Forces provided security escorts to us and the humanitarian aid aspect of the program along with the sacrifice and effort made in terms of our national defense, the commercial aspect comes much later for your company. Our recommendation under these conditions will be to improve the coordination between our company, your institution and Naval Forces, and increase the sharing of instant information. 

We would like to update you about the current schedule as follows:

Cibutiend of unloading and departure: 24.09.2016 - 22:00 pm
Berbera Arrival : 25.09.2016 - 13:00 pm
Berbera end of unloading and departure: 29.09.2016
BosasoArrival: 30.09.2016
Bosasoend of unloading and departure: 05.10.2016

We remind you that the above dates are subject to weather conditions under normal conditions and the updated information will be shared with you regularly.

Yours faithfully,
Yakup Akin

Nora International Transportation Ltd. Co. 

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After being sure that the operation would progress smoothly at Djibouti port and we thought that we had fully implemented the plan, I flew to the city “Hargesia” on September 21, 2016, the closest airport to Djibouti and also the capital of Somaliland Republic, to prepare for the port of "Berbera" which is the next unloading port. Somaliland has declared its independence as a "Republic" in a formation separate from Somalian federal state, but it is a state which is recognized by only a few countries. In this structure, where the people and statesmen defend their independence in a very conservative and nationalist manner, it is not permissible for companies residing in Somalia federal state to do business in this region. Once I learned this, I was once again surprised that Mogadishu (the Somali Federal State Capitol) resident companies were willing to insist on this operation at Berbera port. If we had agreed with such a company without knowing this, the operation would be sabotaged and face many difficulties not allowing its completion, we would have to deal with it for many days and weeks until we fully understand why it is not allowed to finish, we would have looked at the matter from merely operational and technical perspectives without going deep into the underlying reason. The troubled political, political and demographic structure of the region could be so rigid that you need to step carefully into the choice of supplier and the words you need to use in some situations..

Hargesia is a city where commercial companies are also located. The level of income is somewhat better than the other parts of Somalia and is a city that can be tested without problems in terms of security.

There was only one local logistics firm that I could contact for Berbera port before my arrival at this port. This company also increased the price by 3 times after my arrival at the city and the first meeting we made. So, realizing that the approach to the subject had to be much more than the commercial aspect, I visited the Turkish Consulate to Hargesia. During my visit, Consul General of Hargesia Mr. Muzaffer told me that it might be useful to meet Ms. Emina,President of the Somaliland Drought Committee, and he could give the reference to companies that can do this local job at this size. Thus, we could arrange a meeting with Ms. Emina, difficult though.

He directed me to a local government-sponsored logistics company, after he listened to my requests and sensitivity. We arranged an interview immediately and signed the contract within 2 days. The company seemed to be advantageous due to its proximity of the local government, which had previously been involved in unloading of the aid ships on a regular basis.One of the company's executives was a member of the Berbera municipal council. This person was supposed to actively monitor and control the entire operation. We organized a visit to Berbera port, which is about 200 km away with him. I was questioned whether I was more Muslim than identity control or passport control in order to be allowed to pass through the control point with their astonishment of seeing a white man in the passage of about 20 military control points on the way… My answer was necessarily “Elhamdulillah”.. :)

As a result of our meeting with the port chief during my port visit, I was informed that this port was too busy.It was expected the ships would wait offshore between 1 week and 15 days.He clearly stated that there is not much that can be done in this issue. At this point, I realized that the instructions had to go from the higher channels to him.

PORT OF BERBERA

The in-port warehouses were incredibly dirty and neglected. It was like a dump. I requested that the warehouses be cleaned to make food stocks.

I demanded quick docking by telling the situation of the military ship. To this end, I asked the Consulate to write a letter and contact such a letter to Somaliland at the level of the Prime Minister. They supported us until the end.In this regard, I would like to remind all my Embassy and Consulate staff that I am grateful to them..

I returned to the city of Hargesia after staying in Berbera for 1 night during my visit to Berbera port. We reassigned the whole operation process with the agency and obtained the customs preparations and the vat exemptions from the relevant state institutions. After our initiatives, the country's Prime Minister "Abdirahman Saylici" hosted us at his office and promised support to the operation, giving direct contact details of his advisors to me. During the operation, I have had many requests for help from his counselors. After I thought that my preparations at Berbera port had been completed, I decided to start preparations and contacts for the next port, Bosaso port. In Berberaya, the first obstacle I faced was the transportation problems from Hargesiato Puntland/Bosaso. There was no regular flight and it was not safe to travel on the highway of 800 km. For this reason I primarily followed UN (United Nations) flights which were irregular. These flights were the united nations flights that received both relief supplies and limited number of passengers. There were non-regular flights to Bosaso directly from Hargesia.

After the ship completed unloading at Berberaport, I was going to travel by ship in Bosaso. The unloading of the ship at Djibouti was about to be completed. Djibouti - Berbera cruising time was around 48 hours. For this reason, I had to go to the Bosaso port as soon as possible and do not go back to Berbera port and coordinate the unloading there. I had to go to the Bosaso port as soon as possible and go back to Berbera port and supervise the unloading there. Time was short but flights were not clear. Because of cancellation of the flight by the UN, I decided to go on a Charter flight.  I had to do this flight for one day because airplane rent would be very expensive due to the waiting charges and expenses in Bosaso airport if I stayed in Bosaso.  I had only a few hours to find an agent, negotiate and complete my preparations and contacts in Bosaso. Under these conditions, I flew from Hargesia airport at 7:30 am on September 27, 2016 for my day-trip to Bosaso.

The only contact in Bosos was the Puntland President's adviser Mr. Burhan Abdi, who is thought to be able to help me with this area reported by our Mogadishu embassy. It was Burhan Abdi. He met me at the airport in Bosaso on the way and immediately started seeing me. Due to security risk, aeroplanes and pilots wanted to leave Bosaso as soon as possible. At 15:00 we agreed on the return flight and passed through the airport security escort and armored (bulletproof) vehicle  to the city.

Bosaso is the capital of "Puntland", which is a major state in the Somali Federal structure. It is on the most northern tip of Somalia, at the corner of the geographical formation called the golden horn. It is a strategic HUB adjacent to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. However, the underdeveloped economy, along with the serious drought in recent years, caused the people to live in very troubled times.

The city, which is experiencing weaknesses of stability and orderliness, is in a position frequently confronted with activities of "El Shabab" terrorist organization with the extension "Al Qaeda" which we can call as risky region. For this reason, I was provided with high security measures so that I could travel on a permanent military escort. A small military team provided security and protection for me throughout the entire Bosaso stay.

Even in the sea... While the ship was waiting in the open on the anchor, on my way to the ship by boat, … 

With the local logistics company, which Mr.Burhan had decided to introduce to us before my arrival for our operational needs and identification, we completed our meetings. The firm was also a local government and state-sponsored company* providing stevedoring services to similar aid loads of different countries and at the same time unloading operations at Bosaso port of WHO (World Health Organization), WFP (World Food Program).

* During these operations, the most critical steps that determine our success in the unloading have been agency choices. In these regions where there are many commercial disasters such as the structure of countries, uncertainties as the structure of economic agents, influence in clan and tribal governments, mafia and tributaries, etc., if we had approached the matter from a merely commercial perspective and, as in the other developed countries, contracted the service to firms and selected the supplier and agency, we would probably still be struggling with problems at the port of Djibouti. In this geography, where trade, politics and government relations are intertwinted but also local forces, clan and tribal structures are very active, choice of suppliers has been the key step with the support of our embassies and consulates. There have been many companies that say they can do this even at half price. In fact, every person, every individual and every company I consult about this work has claimed that this unloading operation can be excellent (!)at very different price ranges in very different ways. You can understand the complexity of this structure far away from professionalism.

When we moved to the port of Bosaso from the city with the company, I saw the port area in the most primitive structure that I had seen until that day. The port where only one dock was available was not able to handle containers. The port, which was mostly based on livestock trade, was in a complicated structure because it had a single berth and the ships had to wait long queues and it was almost impossible to schedule and schedule berthing.

It was obvious that it would be difficult for the ship to approach the port due to the small size of the pier and port, which is 7.5 meters in draft, and the conditions of entry.

I tried to tell them about the significance of the meeting with the port president. The key point about Bosaso was that it was the first direct shipment of goods to be made by Turkey to this port and hence Puntland province. The aid materials that had previously come to this area were transported to and from Mogadishu port. They complained about the incomplete delivery or inadequacy of these relief supplies, which came from a route of about 1400 km. When I explained that if they were to make the first unloading operation without any delay and quickly, it would be a very important step towards sending the next aid directly to Punltlandby Turkish government, and that it would no longer hesitate to send these materials directly to Puntland instead of Somalia. I was able to read from their eyes that they were motivated by the fact…

At this point the port chief promised me that they would keep the relevant berth empty for the date when our ship would arrive.

After making customs preparations and document deliveries, we returned to the airport at 15:00 and flew back to Hargesia.

The ETA Berbera for our ship was clarified as 27.09.2016. I started to wait for the ship to come by resuming my preparations back in Hargesia. Our Consul General in Hargesia, Mr. Muzaffer, called and informed us that he would organize a ceremony on the ship's arrival and that he wanted to go to this ceremony together. At 07:30 on the date of 27.09.2016, we went to the Berbera port from Hargesia in order to participate in the ceremony of the local press about the ship's arrival, accompanied by the Turkish Consulate delegation, convoys and guards of some ministers and statesmen. It was my first time to see the MV LILA ship and its crew on which we had been working for weeks on that day…

After the ceremony, the unloading of 5000 tons of material was started immediately. Our plan was to finish our unloading in 4 days with a daily unloading rate of 1250 tons. In addition to the sacked flour and sugar, 7 tons of baby diaper was made. The unloading was carried out at the warehouse located in the port. The warehouses with a distance of 50 meters to the ship were cleaned and made suitable for food storage. We declared our date of finishing and departure to the General Staff Presidency, Naval Forces Command and Red Crescent in Ankara, by adding 1 day margin and to Bosaso Port Authority (ETD + 48 hours running time) as the estimated date of arrival…

Again, our unloading backed by all the authorities and facing without great difficulty apart from the smallest problems was completed on 02.10.2016. Following the completion of the unloading, anchor was taken from Berberaport and we started our 48-hour drive to Bosasoin the escort of the BüyükadaFrigate protection along the Aden Gulf.

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