Lekki Deep Seaport To Serve As Trans-Ship Port For Cargoes

The management of the Lekki Deep Seaport has said that the port will serve as a trans-shipment port for cargoes going to eastern ports.

The Chief Commercial Officer of Lekki Freeport Terminal, Kehinde Olubi-Neye, said this while addressing journalists during a recent tour of the port facility.

Olubi-Neye also said that the port will work to recover the country’s transship cargo loss to other neighbouring West African countries.

According to him, the new port, which has invested close to $100m in the acquisition of terminal and cargo handling equipment, has the needed equipment and the draft to recover transship cargo bound for landlocked neighbouring countries.

Olubi-Neye added that the management of the Lekki Freeport Terminal had engaged stakeholders, including Nigeria Customs Service, among others.

He expressed confidence that the firm will recover transshipment cargo not just for the hinterland but also for landlocked countries and other regional countries.

On cargo evacuation from the port, Olubi-Neye said Lekki Port operated an automated system that was linked to the automated gate with the vehicle booking system where truck drivers were required to book appointments in advance.

He said that Lekki port was also exploring the possibility of moving cargo by barges and had been able to execute more than five barge movements of over 900 twenty-foot equivalent units of containers from Lekki port to the Ikorodu area of Lagos.

He further disclosed that the port has completed a truck park very close to the port that has the capacity to accommodate 150 trucks.

He commended the efforts of the Federal Government and Lagos State Government in constructing the roads, which he said had improved significantly.

For his part, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko, represented by Ikechukwu Onyemakara, described Lekki Port as a Nigerian project and assured the management that the NPA would do everything within its powers to grant necessary approvals and to provide marine services to the port.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of Lekki Freeport Terminal, Yann Magarian, said the port would shape the maritime economy of the country.