Leading container terminal operator, the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), has continued to show its excitement at playing host to the largest containership ever to berth at any Nigerian port.
The regular containerships calling at Nigerian ports until the Onne milestone were those in the class of WAFMAX with a maximum capacity of 4,500 TEU.
Maersk Stadelhorn successfully berthed at WACT, Onne, on Sunday August 15, at 4pm and is currently situated at Berth 8, overlapping on Berth 9 due to the very large size/frame.
“We are excited at this historic achievement. We thank the Nigerian Ports Authority for dredging the channel and for professionally piloting the vessel to the port. Without the effort, support and approval of the NPA, this would not have been possible,” the Country Manager of APM Terminals Nigeria, Klaus Laursen, said.
Laursen said that in addition to the NPA support, the huge investment by APM Terminals in WACT also made it possible for the terminal to upgrade its services with modern cargo handling equipment to be able to handle very large container carriers.
“The feat recorded here at WACT is impressive. The significance of this development is that even the ports in Lagos will now have to try and catch up with the new standards set by WACT. It is also important to mention that this is happening at this critical time when economies of the world are facing a lot of challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a mark of confidence in the Nigerian economy. We are saying that in spite of COVID-19, the Nigerian economy is strong and will continue to be buoyant. The COVID-19 challenges are temporary, and the economy will certainly record a positive growth in the nearest future,” he said.
The Managing Director WACT, Aamir Mirza, who spoke via telephone, said, “Over the last four years, we have continued on the journey to developing our business by investing in our people and container handling equipment.
Our handling this vessel is in line with our vision to make WACT the best performing container terminal in West Africa.”
Mirza said that by successfully handling the 10,000 TEU vessel, the terminal operator “has once again proven to all our customers that WACT is capable of competing with other ports in Nigeria and West Africa.”
The Commercial Manager of WACT, Noah Sheriff, said the terminal had become the gateway to East Nigeria and a strong alternative to ports in Lagos over the years with the multi-million dollar investment made in information technology and modern cargo handling equipment.
Sheriff said, “The rapid growth you see at WACT today is partly because of our e-commerce capabilities that allow landside customers to do business with WACT from literally anywhere across Nigeria, coupled with our continuous investment approach, which has resulted in such upgrade from our liner customers. We are excited about the significant milestone recorded today in WACT, Onne. This is a positive development for Onne Port and the entire business community because large vessels come with many benefits for authorities, liner customers and landside customers.
“Recall that in December 2019, we handled a containership measuring 265 metres in length overall, which at the time was the first gearless vessel and the largest containership to visit a seaport outside the Lagos area. It took us only 2.75 days to turn around the vessel. Also in January this year, we handled another large gearless containership with a capacity of 3,081 TEU deployed by Pacific International Lines (PIL). So, we have continued to enhance our capacity and capabilities, and you can see another example today with the berthing of Maersk Stadelhorn.”
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