FG to grow vessel traffic in southern ports -Oyetola

By Temitope Adebayo

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola said his ministry would take the lead in providing the needed facilitation and advocacy required to grow the vessel traffic to the Southern ports of the country.

Oyetola revealed this recently when he commissioned the 4.8km road and Marine craft at Onne Port, Rivers State.

He disclosed that deepening efficiencies and full capacity utilization of the Eastern ports constitutes one of the tools deployed to achieve the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assigned to the ministry under the Presidential Performance Bond.

The Southern ports are the ports in Onne, Rivers Warri and Calabar.

The minister expressed satisfaction that the Onne and Calabar Port Complexes have met the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization and are ISO certified adding that the newly commissioned mooring boats would further enhance the security and safety at the Eastern port.

According to him, providing an environment for investors to patronise the Southern ports is the top priority of the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry.

“This road infrastructure constructed by the Nigerian Ports Authority and the mooring boats we are gathered here to commission is another testament to the commitment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy under my watch to maximize the entire gamut of opportunities conferred on us by our maritime endowments, in line with the directives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The Mooring Boats are used to safety berth and unberth vessels calling at various pilotage districts. These six Mooring Boats are our own way of further enhancing the security and safety of our maritime space.

Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, stated that the commissioning of the newly constructed road and deployment of the marine craft will positively impact cargo dwell time and win back huge revenues hitherto lost to terminal operators’ inability to meet their performance targets on account of inaccessibility to their lease areas due to bad road.

According to the NPA boss, the vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.

“The Phase 4B houses a significant portion of the untapped potentials of the Onne Port Complex, thus the completion of Road “D” which is the major arterial link to the new Berths 9, 10, 11 & 12 at Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) and vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.

This road which stretches over a total of 4.8 kilometres, covering two container terminals and caters to almost 1,000 trucks daily is indicative of the Authority’s positioning for growth, competitiveness and future-readiness. By promoting the ease and speed of doing business in the port, this infrastructure deployment will positively impact cargo dwell time and win back huge revenues hitherto lost to terminal operators’ inability to meet their performance targets on account of inaccessibility to their lease areas due to bad road,” he stated.

Bello-Koko also demanded the minister’s support for the concrete fencing of a stretch of land at the Onne port to guard against unauthorized access.