First Transshipment Vessel Arrives Lekki Port

The Lekki Deep Seaport on Thursday said its container terminal had received its first transshipment.

In a statement announcing the arrival of the vessel, the management said it came with cargo from CMA CGM and Maersk, the two largest container shipping lines in the world.

According to the statement, “The vessel carried 411 twenty-foot equivalent units of transshipment cargo and had a nominal container handling capacity of 6,900 TEUs.”

“The vessel, which arrived at approximately 1.00 pm on Thursday, June 29, 2023, was carrying cargoes from two of the largest container shipping lines in the world, CMA CGM and Maersk. The service originated from the far east passing through Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, TanjungPelpas, and Singapore to Kribi, Cameroun, before finally arriving at Lekki Port this afternoon.”

The Managing Director of Lekki Port, Du Ruogang, thanked the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Ports Authority for their support in ensuring the commencement of transshipment activities at Lekki Port.

On his part, the Chief Operating Officer of Lekki Port, Laurence Smith, said all regulatory agencies operating at the port, particularly the Nigerian Customs Service, worked together with Lekki Port and the container terminal operator, Lekki Freeport Terminal, to ensure smooth arrival of the vessel and cargo processing.

Smith noted that, “Lekki Port, with its state-of-the-art Ship to Shore cranes and sophisticated scanners, is now poised to position Nigeria as the preeminent transshipment hub of West Africa. The transshipped cargo will be departing for Cotonou, its final destination, on 6th July 2023.”