A Chinese cargo vessel, MV GUO TOU 106, carrying about 38,798 metric tonnes of goods, has been stopped from discharging cement at the Tema Port by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The consignee is said to be an unlicensed importer of the product.
The cargo on board the vessel attracted eagle-eyed scrutiny by the security authorities at the port when declarations of the goods on official documents at Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority berthing meetings were reportedly detected to be inconsistent.
Investigations by this paper revealed that documents used at the berthing meetings showed the vessel – MV GUO TOU 106 – arriving at the anchorage of the Tema port on November 7, 2016, declaring steel products.
However, on November 14, at the berthing meeting, the Chinese vessel declared carrying cement and equipment, although the consignee was not licensed to engage in the business of cement importation.
MV GUO TOU 106, which was at Berth 3 at the time of filing this report, was offloading steel plates and other equipment.
When contacted, the Director of Port, Tema, Jacob Adorkor, said that the GPHA depends on directives from Customs as to whether to discharge a cargo or not.
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