Business owners and importers in Onitsha have expressed joy over the berthing of MV Lady Jane, the second largest container ship to arrive at Onne Port.
This is as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said the successful berthing of MV Lady Jane, with 50 per cent agricultural commodities at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) at Onne Port, has proven the authority’s readiness to consolidate on the growth of container vessel traffic in the eastern ports.
MV Lady Jane, with a length of 295 metres and a draft of 12 metres, berthed for the first time in Nigeria on Wednesday at about 3pm.
According to NPA, the landmark is that the vessel, which sailed in from Majuro in the Marshall Islands, is discharging 840 TEUS and loading 1,060 TEUS, 50 per cent of which are agricultural commodities, including cashew nuts, sesame seed, cassia tora seed and others.
Earlier this year, Onne Port received the first export-laden barge exporting 120 TEUs of cocoa to Belgium via Cotonou.
Whilst the historic berthing of the MV Maersk Stadelhorn, a 300 metres LOA container vessel on August 15, 2020 tested the navigability of the channel, MV Lady Jane has proven the capability of the channel for sustained container vessel traffic, NPA stated.
Exporters and importers hailed the development, saying that it saves time and money.
Chidi Udeala, a businessman told Standardobservers that the arrival of the vessel and others at Onne have helped business owners in Onitsha to cut cost.
He urged the NPA and WACT to improve on their facilities to ensure that more container vessels berth at their terminal.
Another businessman, James Omeka lauded the development. He said that going to Lagos to bring back imported goods or for export hurts businesses.
He lauded the government and WACT for its consistency in ensuring that vessels berth at Onne, which he said is less than two hours to Onitsha.
Meanwhile, NPA said the arrival of the vessel is a testament to its unwavering resolve to promote exports and support the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria at positioning the non-oil sector as a revenue earner.
The authority said, although, Onne Port Complex has traditionally been known as a logistics hub for Oil and Gas services, the implementation of fresh initiatives deployed by the Bello Koko administration had resulted in a 30 per cent increase in container traffic at the close of the year 2021.
Speaking to stakeholders who came to welcome the vessel, the NPA Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, who was represented by the Port Manager, Stanley Yitnoe, said the milestone suggests that the initiatives of the authority geared towards repositioning the eastern ports for performance are yielding results.
He added that Onne Port Complex is fast becoming an attraction for container vessel traffic.
“We cannot afford to rest on our laurels, we must continually strive to surpass stakeholders’ expectations,” he said.
Commenting further, the Managing Director commended the pilots for the professionalism demonstrated by the effortless and safe berthing of the vessel.
