Recently British paratroopers have entered the country and a few shipping lines, including OT Africa LIne, have resumed port calls. The majority of shipments to Freetown are food and aid supplies for the UN trrops but bit by bit commercial business is recovering and imports and exports are picking up.
Discharge operations are often slow due to inadequate equipment at the port.
Much of the ports handling equipment has been requisitioned by the UN to unload military hardware. Hefty war risk insurance is another burden shipping lines have to face. Night curfews are in place. Considering the fragile situation in Sierra Leone and the potential risk of conflict linked to calls at Freetown, OTAL's vessel insurershave recently raised an additional war risk premium to cover concerns over hull and machinery jeopardy. OTAL has therefore implemented a war risk surcharge on calls to Freetown.