Nigeria’s $1.5bn Lekki Deep Seaport

One of the immediate benefits of the recent acquisition of two units of 2813 Azimuth Stern Drive ASD Model of the 80-tonne Bollard pull tugboats, which have been christened M.T MAIKOKO and M.T DA-OPUKURO is that they will drastically reduce the waiting time for vessels coming to any of the nation’s seaports, says Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko.

He also disclosed that with the acquisition of the two tug boats, the country would in the next three weeks begin to receive transhipment cargoes meant for land locked neighbouring African countries through the recently commissioned Lekki Deep Seaport, which were lost several years ago due to delays occasioned by the lack of marine operational equipment and other logistic hiccups. Constructed by the world’s leading ship builders; Damen, the two state-of the-art crafts, which are first of their kind in Africa, possess exceptional seakeeping behaviour, superb manoeuvrability of 360° using the Azimuth Thrusters, fire-fighting capability and outstanding towing characteristics, which will enhance the manoeuvring of large capacity vessels of 300 metres LOA and above.

Speaking during an interview shortly after the christening and commissioning of the two crafts in Lagos at the weekend, Bello- Koko disclosed that talks with landlocked African neighbours have reached advanced stage, which would lead to the countries shipping their consignments through the Nigerian seaports, especially Lekki Deep Seaport.

“The direct implication of the acquisition of these crafts is that there will be a reduction of the waiting time of vessels that call at our seaports, including the large ones because the two crafts have the capability to efficiently handle such large vessels, especially for Lekki, which has the draft to take larger vessels.

“We are already having expression of interest from other African countries. Aout two or three weeks ago, we held meetings with officials from Chad, Niger Republic and Cameroon. The idea is how they can bring in their cargo through the Nigerian ports into their countries.

“The right protocols need to be put in place and so we are working with relevant agencies of the government, including the Federal Ministry of Transport to see that the right things are done.

“For Lekki, those two tug boats commissioned today are mainly for the port. We expect that the transhipment cargoes will come through the Lekki Deep Seaport in the next two or three weeks. We will also take back our business from neighbouring West African countries and also the captive cargoes meant for the Nigerian ports that have been going to other West African countries would also return”, Bello-Koko assured.

The MD also noted that the management would do everything possible towards deploying the newly commissioned Lekki Port as a launch- pad for transhipment, adding that the acquisition of the two tug boats demonstrates its unwavering commitment towards achieving such feat.

“He said: I wish to assure stakeholders of our resolve as a management to position the Nigerian Ports Authority to respond squarely to the contemporary demands of trade facilitation.

“We will consistently focus on our corporate aspiration of attaining hub status by more efficiently servicing domestic cargo needs, winning back transit cargo hitherto lost to our maritime neighbours and positioning to cater for the maritime requirements of our landlocked neighbours. We have deployed a three-pronged strategy driven by people, technology, infrastructure and equipment such as these state-of-the-art tug vessels to achieve these feats.

“The acquisition of these tugs is also part of the fulfilment of our service charter to provide relevant marine crafts to support port security, patrol, surveillance and most importantly deliver excellent marine services, especially with the commencement of operations of Nigeria’s first deep seaport.”