How is this possible? It happened to me. This the same reason I avoided ro-ro.

cicero:

How is this possible? It happened to me. This the same reason I avoided ro-ro.

Can you explained exactly what happened, When & Who Opened the Container after Customs Check, and When were the Vehicles Delivered to you ?

Look no further, your clearing agent committed the act.
what happened was that while the customs was checking the containers, the seal will be broken and the agent is suppose to replace the seal with a padlock and they will have the keys( i am sure you know the rest of the story)

hailolive:

Look no further, your clearing agent committed the act.
what happened was that while the customs was checking the containers, the seal will be broken and the agent is suppose to replace the seal with a padlock and they will have the keys( i am sure you know the rest of the story)

Thats the Point i was trying to drive at, But lets hear his side of the Story.

It may have been due to Negligence on the Part of the Clearing agent.

After the container was opened and it was discovered, the agent said his boy who witnessed the inspection informed him that the seal was broken but that he forgot to tell me. They then said it was vandalized before it arrived Nigeria, but I insisted it happened at Tin Can there.

Let me mention that a padlock was broken in my presence

cicero:

After the container was opened and it was discovered, the agent said his boy who witnessed the inspection informed him that the seal was broken but that he forgot to tell me. They then said it was vandalized before it arrived Nigeria, but I insisted it happened at Tin Can there.

Its very Much Possible that the Cars were Vandalised before Shipment, but the excuse that they forgot to tell you bla bla are not Cogent and only ropes them in as prime suspects. Casual Workers of freight companys where the Vehicles are Loaded onto the Vessel are not exempted from these acts.

Tin Can Ports has been Sanitised and Wharf Vandalisations has been reduced to the barest Minimum, Your Clearing Agent is the First Suspect in this Case. 

@Poster:

Who cleared the container for you? Is it cleared by someone in the house; i mean on NL?

Which line did you use for the shipment? Were you there when your container was loaded?

Trust me, your clearing agent is the first suspects. He should be held responsible

Cicero,

Can you send your phone number to ola.akinola@gmail.com.

Had similar experience though RORO. The agent's story was not consistent, suspected him.

Vehicle was vandalised after he secured it; (he confirmed everything was OK). items removed includes;
extra tyre, which is normally well secured under the truck. By the way vehicle was a TOYOTA TUNDRA 2006.
Jack, wheel spanner, all four wheel covers etc. All these were discovered when vehicles was delivered to me.
His story was that these must have been removed before shipment, sounded funny to me.

Tado:

Cicero,

Can you send your phone number to ola.akinola@gmail.com.

Had similar experience though RORO. The agent's story was not consistent, suspected him.

Vehicle was vandalised after he secured it; (he confirmed everything was OK). items removed includes;
extra tyre, which is normally well secured under the truck. By the way vehicle was a TOYOTA TUNDRA 2006.
Jack, wheel spanner, all four wheel covers etc. All these were discovered when vehicles was delivered to me.
His story was that these must have been removed before shipment, sounded funny to me.

I found this post a little funny. Funny in the sense that it is similar to my experience. I shipped a vehicle in container i shared with someone. The jack was missing when my friend got his jeep.

Let me tell you something, its only in Nigeria that people value jack, wheel spanner etc. There is no one here in the states crazy about stealing a jack, wheel spanner etc cos you can't get much for them if you try to sell it. Here, its possible to go an entire year or more without even having to worry about your jack if you have good tires. Almost nothing happens to them.

So it can't be stolen before shipment. Just get a new agent. Naija and dishonesty 

german007:

Sorry to hear about your loss. I have never ever had any theft in any vehicle I have shipped to Tincan. Everything comes intact and complete. [b]Tincan security protocol has been greatly improved and enhanced with 24hr surveillance and hi-tech equipment.

As the house says, Your clearing agent is the first suspect, The clearing agent I use  pays royalties to the port security and port staff to keep an eye on all vehicles given to him to clear. All these are the unwritten prerequisites that ensure a customer recieves his car complete.

Maybe in this case he has been greedy and not paid the mandatory royalties to the port rats, vessel staff or even port security. No disprespect to the port touts and rats but they still have to get their royalties. It is Nigeria for you.[/b]

Why pay security staff if the security protocol has greatly improved?
Anyway, I blame my agent too.

Kunle-A:

I found this post a little funny. Funny in the sense that it is similar to my experience. I shipped a vehicle in container i shared with someone. The jack was missing when my friend got his jeep.

Let me tell you something, its only in Nigeria that people value jack, wheel spanner etc. There is no one here in the states crazy about stealing a jack, wheel spanner etc cos you can't get much for them if you try to sell it. Here, its possible to go an entire year or more without even having to worry about your jack if you have good tires. Almost nothing happens to them.

So it can't be stolen before shipment. Just get a new agent. Naija and dishonesty 

Tado:

Cicero,

Can you send your phone number to ola.akinola@gmail.com.

Had similar experience though RORO. The agent's story was not consistent, suspected him.

Vehicle was vandalised after he secured it; (he confirmed everything was OK). items removed includes;
extra tyre, which is normally well secured under the truck. By the way vehicle was a TOYOTA TUNDRA 2006.
Jack, wheel spanner, all four wheel covers etc. All these were discovered when vehicles was delivered to me.
His story was that these must have been removed before shipment, sounded funny to me.

ib612:

@Poster:

Who cleared the container for you? Is it cleared by someone in the house; i mean on NL?

Which line did you use for the shipment? Were you there when your container was loaded?

Trust me, your clearing agent is the first suspects. He should be held responsible

Guys I strongly believe it happened in Tin Can, they left me a souvenir - the kind of screwdriver you would only see with a Nigerian mechanic and the dirty thief left the greasy, dark trademark of Nigerian mechanics on my leather seat with his equally dirty whatever-he-was-wearing.

I used MSC and cleared from Terminal C I believe (The ports and cargo handling services limited gate)

it a pity u lost sometins in tin can, i posted it in my thread TIN PORT CONGESTION about the thieves in the port pls believe no one,the tin can port is as porous as b4. to safe guard ur goods go there b4 delivery and SETTLE.

it a pity u lost sometins in tin can, i posted it in my thread TIN PORT CONGESTION about the thieves in the port pls believe no one,the tin can port is as porous as b4. to safe guard ur goods go there b4 delivery and SETTLE.

Poster

I use MSC from Toronto-Montreal all the time and have never had any vandalization but there was a time when one of the port boys attempted to steal some lose items from the container during the exam. Fortunately, my relative witnessed the exam and was able to stop him.

As people already said, likely to be your agent or his boys/apprentices, he should have padlocked the container once the examination was completed. More often than not, it is during the examination that thieves are opportuned to steal from a container. If possible, have somebody(other than the agent) there when your container is to be examined to ensure nothing is removed and that person can confirm the container is properly locked afterwards.

If you like, you could even get a solid padlock yourself to lock the container after examination and give the agent a duplicate if necessary.

My question is, with the privatization of the ports are containers still handled at owner's risk or shouldn't the companies operating the ports provide adequate security for containers and of course other items?

While I was lamenting to whoever cared to listen, one man whose container came out the same time as mine consoled me by recounting how some of his imports were stolen and after he mentioned how much they were worth I was greatly consoled and thanked God I still had the cars.
This and the experiences of others validates Rothstein's post about the porosity of our ports. Mine is not an isolated case.
I am seriously considering ro-ro for my next import, I'm sure I can do that, then settle to safeguard my cars and still have enough saving.

@rasmur5
How did your relative witness the examination?

He just went there once the agent told me the date and time of the examination. You sound surprised, isn't it normal to allow the owner of the container or their representative to witness the exam if they want?

i shiipped an suv ro ro tru ACL from baltimore n nuthin happened to the car.seems some shipping lines r more secure than the others

rasmur5:

He just went there once the agent told me the date and time of the examination. You sound surprised, isn't it normal to allow the owner of the container or their representative to witness the exam if they want?

I am surprised. Will try it next time. Thanks for this tip.

I experienced the phenomenon just this last week when the car I imported from US was met vandalised at the point of inspection. When my agent got there, he met the container already opened and all the 3 vehicles in there have all been tampered with. They carted away the car ECU (brain box), Mirrors, 2 side glasses and their motors (front),even the car keys(3) & fods (2) were not spared. We had to tow the vehicle away from port as a scrap.