The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has raised concerns over the growing practice of overloading container barges on Lagos waterways, warning that excessive stacking of containers is creating dangerous blind spots for vessel operators and increasing the risk of accidents.
At the 2026 Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria (SCAN) Dockworkers’ Day in Lagos this week, the agency said some operators were compromising safety in a bid to maximise earnings from each trip.
“To maximise profit per trip, operators frequently overload barges with shipping containers,” said Kelvin Abba, who represented NIWA in a goodwill message.
According to the agency, containers stacked too high or improperly arranged can obstruct the forward visibility of tugboat captains, making navigation difficult on busy waterways.
“When these heavy containers are stacked too high or poorly arranged, they create a massive blind spot that completely blocks the tugboat captain’s forward visibility,” the authority said. “Operating a vessel
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