First Transshipment Vessel Arrives Lekki Seaport

The $1.5 billion Lekki Seaport located at Itoke village, Ibeju-Lekki, in Lagos State was unveiled months before the tenure of former President Mohammed Buhari ended and has begun operations. This project was one of the biggest projects built by the Buhari-led administration and it is expected to bring about an improvement in the Nigerian economy by injecting at least $361 billion into the economy.

The Management of the Seaport issued a statement on the arrival of the first transshipment vessel on Thursday. It arrived at the container terminal of the seaport, Rimbaud.

The management stated that the vessel owned by CMA CGM shipping company got to the port with cargo from the two biggest container shipping lines in the world CMA CGM and Maersk. According to the statement, the vessel had a container handling capacity of 6900 TEUs and carried a 21-foot equivalent unit of transshipment cargo.

“The vessel, which arrived at approximately 1.00 pm on Thursday, June 29, 2023, was carrying cargo from two of the largest container shipping lines in the world, CMA CGM and Maersk. The service originated from the far east passing through Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, TanjungPelpas, and Singapore to Kribi, Cameroun, before finally arriving at Lekki Port this afternoon. The vessel was carrying 411 TEUs of transshipment cargo and has a nominal container handling capacity of 6,900 TEUs,” the statement said.

Lekki Deep Seaport Managing Director, Du Ruogang, spoke on the development and showed appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Ports Authority for their support in making sure the commencement of transshipment activities at Lekki Port was successful.

Also, the Chief Operating Officer of the port, Laurence Smith, stated that all managerial agencies operating at the port, especially the Nigerian Customs Service ensured they worked together with Lekki Seaport and the container terminal operator, Lekki Freeport Terminal, to make sure the vessel without a hitch and the cargo, well processed.

“Lekki Port, with its state-of-the-art Ship to Shore cranes and sophisticated scanners, is now poised to position Nigeria as the preeminent transshipment hub of West Africa. The transshipped cargo will be departing for Cotonou, its final destination, on 6th July 2023,” he said

With the Seaport now standing and operational, the responsibility is on the government and its agencies to work together and avoid going down the path that led to the deterioration of the old ports so that the economy would be greatly improved and the people would be able to obtain the benefits of its operations.