History As $1.5bn Lekki Port Receives First Vessel
The Lekki Deep Seaport made history today (Friday) as it received the first-ever vessel (Zhen Hua 28) to berth at the port.
The ship brought three Ship To Shore (STS) cranes and ten Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes.
Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, said the successful delivery of the three STS and the ten RTG cranes was critical to the commencement of operations of the deep seaport.
He said Lekki Port, when fully operational, will be the first fully automated port in Nigeria.
Koko said: “The successful delivery of these three state-of-the art STS cranes and 10 RTG, are very important equipment which are critical to the commencement of operations of the Lekki Deep Seaport. This is historic as it moves us a step closer to birthing Nigeria’s first Deep Seaport and also demonstrates our readiness to take trade facilitation a notch higher.
“The commitment of NPA to providing every support necessary to place Nigeria on the global list of countries with Deep Seaports is unflinching. This is why matters related to the operationalization of Lekki Deep Seaport before the end of this year have been placed on top priority.
“For us at the Nigerian Ports Authority the coming on stream of Lekki Deep Sea Port symbolizes a lot of positives. Apart from being Nigeria’s first Deep Seaport, Lekki Port will also be the first fully automated port at take-off. This provides an insight into the path we are already toeing as a management team to govern the operationalization of not just the forthcoming Badagry, Ibom and Bonny Deep Seaports, but also of the reconstruction of the aged Tin-Can Port, where work is set to commence once we secure the necessary approvals from the Federal Ministry of Transportation and FEC respectively.”
