Nigeria’s busiest ports of Tin-Can and Apapa within the last two months announced the arrivals of the biggest vessels to ever call at their port terminals in May and June respectively. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI looks at how Lekki Port is putting other ports on their toes.
For years, the arrivals of largest vessels at Apapa and Tin-Can ports have sleepily gone by with no announcement or media reports surrounding the visits of such vessels. For operators of these ports, the visits of such vessels back then had always been a normal port operation procedure.
However, in May, Tin-Can Port in a press briefing announced the arrival of the largest vessel to ever call at the port. The vessel, MSc Maureen, with an overall Length (LOA) of 300m and breadth of 40m, had berthed at the Tin-Can Island Port Complex in the first week of May 2023.
The Port Manager Tin-Can Island Port Complex, Mr Jibril Buba, told journalists during the media briefing that the development is a testament to the port’s readiness to receive very large vessels despite the pressing need for rehabilitation.
The MSc Maureen reportedly carried a gross tonnage of 75,590 and a Dead weight of 85,810 tonnes.
The port industry was barely settling down from the euphoria that greeted the arrival of MSc Maureen at Tin-Can Port, when the announcement of the largest vessel call at neighbouring Apapa Port jolted the industry in June 2023.
The container port operator for Apapa Port, APM Terminals Apapa issued a statement stating that it received the Singapore-flagged Kota Cantik, the largest container ship to ever call at the Lagos Port Complex Apapa to date.
The Singapore-flagged Kota Cantik, operated and managed by Pacific International Lines (PIL), is a 6,606 TEU containership with a draught of 11.6 metres, length overall (LOA) of 300 metres and beam of 40 metres.
Officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), PIL and APM Terminals Apapa witnessed the historic berthing of the vessel.
Unusual announcement
For industry watchers, the announcement by Tin-Can Port and Apapa Port operators of the arrivals of the largest vessels to ever call at their port terminals is a confirmation that what is happening at Lekki Port has put every port operator on their toes.
Speaking on the development, acting President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farinto explained that the expected vessel call of very large vessels at Lekki Port is putting pressure on the operators of Apapa and Tin-Can Ports.
According to the acting ANLCA President, “What is happening at Lekki Port is massive. The expected arrival of massive vessels at Nigeria’s deep seaport is putting everybody on their toes.
“Apapa and Tin-Can Port cannot afford to be left behind in the changing dynamics of port operation in Nigeria. The country will be the beneficiary of the ensuing scenario that is playing out at her ports because competition is gradually setting in, and when there is competition, everybody will be on their toes to ensure better services are rendered.
“Competition will bring down the cost of doing business at our ports. If very large vessels call at Lekki Port and the cost of freight is cheaper, the onus will lie on Apapa and Tin-Can ports to buckle up. So, the announcement of very large vessel-call at these ports is a testament to the competition that Lekki Port will bring to Nigeria’s port operation business.
“The establishment of more deep seaports will challenge the status quo. Operators will need to convince importers on where to bring their cargoes. The norm where you either ship your cargo to Apapa or Tin-Can will soon become history.”
Also speaking on the unusual announcement from Apapa and Tin-Can Ports, a port worker at Tin-Can Port who wouldn’t want his name in print explained that the recent reports about dilapidating Infrastructures at Apapa and Tin-Can Ports needed to be counter-checked in-order not to write off the ports at a time Lekki Port is emerging.
“Terminal operators at Tin-Can Ports were worried over reports that the port is collapsing. The news of Tin-Can Port collapse went viral at some point and the operators were uncomfortable with the pattern. It was like the Tin-Can Port and to some extension, Apapa Port were being prepared for burial at a time when Nigeria was celebrating the commencement of operation of its first deep seaport in Lekki.
“The operators needed to remain in business to be competitive and the only way to do that was to change the narrative that was being bandied around that Tin-Can Port is collapsing.
“So, when MSc Maureen came calling in May, Tin-Can Port operators couldn’t just keep quiet about the visit of such vessel. The need to make so much noise was accepted by all the terminal operators at Tin-Can Port. For the first time, all the terminal operators were together on an issue.
“The Port Manager was informed and a media briefing was called to escalate the arrival of MSc Maureen. That Apapa Port too did similar thing the following month is a testament that everybody wants to be competitive. It shouldn’t be seen that some ports are dying because Nigeria suddenly has a deep seaport somewhere in Lekki.
“Before now, such vessel would have called at Apapa and Tin-Can ports without any noise being made about their visits. But nowadays, operators at Tin-Can Ports are suddenly finding the rhetoric that Tin-Can Port is collapsing very uncomfortable. Such rhetorics de-markets the Tin-Can ports, making it look archaic even when people’s businesses are tied around its continuous operations,” the Port worker told the Nigerian Tribune exclusively.
Advantages
One of the advantages of bigger vessels been able to call at a port is economy of scale through lower slot costs for consignees. Carrying a higher number of containers per vessel would translate into lower capital and operating costs per container, thereby reducing the transportation cost per unit.
Also, another advantage of bigger vessels calling at a port is tied around the emission control policy of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) which calls for a substantial reduction of harmful sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships.
Since bigger vessels consume less fuel per container transported, the emissions per TEU are lower than for smaller vessels. Thus, bigger vessels like the Kota Cantik are more environmentally friendly and contribute to lowering the total emissions of harmful sulphuric oxide (SOx) in the shipping industry.
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