Assessing the Efficiency of Port Operations and Inland Logistics in Warri, Nigeria

This study examined the operational efficiency of the Port activities and inland logistics at Warri Port Nigeria. Warri Port which is an economically critical maritime facility in the Niger Delta has been consistently characterized by sub optimal operational performance, which manifested in protracted vessel turnaround time, underdeveloped cargo handling infrastructure and poor external (road) connections and bottlenecks (bureaucratic practices) that make the port to lose its competitive edge. This study applied a mixed methods convergent parallel design, where quantitative Key Performance Indicator (KPI) benchmarking and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) were combined with thematic qualitative analysis. Data was derived from both field work as well as records in Nigerian Port Authority (2020-2025) through mixed approaches. Quantitative data was from the primary source from the study subjects-190 port workers, custom officials, freight forwarders and truck operators using structure survey forms (5 point Liker scale). Semi structured interview was carried out with 22 key informants,; 5 years Nigeria Port Authority statistics(2020-2025) and researcher's field observations were utilized. Quantitative data was analyzed using both Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Data envelopment Analysis (DEA). Qualitative data was analysis with the use of theme analysis in NVivo. Results obtained showed that the mean vessel turnaround time of Warri Port was 8.4 days (SD 2.1), BER of the port facilities was 68%, the average time the cargo spent on dwell time at port before dispatch was 9.7days which were higher than internationally accepted standards. From likert scale analysis, 72.3% of the respondents indicated that customs inspection time at Warri port was either "slow/inefficient" or "very slow/inefficient". Inland logistics was equally found to be highly deficient. On the aspect of Road condition and connectivity, 84% responded it as "poor" or "very poor". Similarly, mean truck turn around time was 11.2hours while "often" or "always" occur due to illegal checkpoints according to 79% of the survey respondent. DEA analysis provided mean efficiency score for the port facilities and identified that mean technical efficiency of the port facilities was 0.63 with range between 0.41 and 0.82. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data provided five causes of Warri Port sub optimal efficiency: dearth of infrastructure facilities, disjointed operational functions, weakness in stakeholder co-ordination, lack of modern facilities, security concerns. This paper concluded that: Warri Port operates with sub optimal level of efficiency and inland logistics operation with lack of basic logistics inputs of road access and stakeholders coordination. It is recommended that stakeholders involved the Warri Port operate in co-ordinate manner, modernizing equipment at the port, repairing the roads around the port, establishing Port Community System, removal of non-sanctioned checkpoints