Destination of cargoes will determine deep seaports viability —NCMDLCA

The President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, has revealed that the viability of many of the deep seaports being built across the country’s Southern region will be determined by the destination of cargoes.

Speaking to the Nigerian Tribune exclusively in his office, Amiwero stated that the talk of a deep seaport in Calabar is not feasible given the fact that the Calabar port is not thriving.

According to him, “before people start talking of deep seaports, there is a need to evaluate the amount of cargo throughputs around that area. There is need to evaluate the number of industries around such area.

“Can the region become a transhipment centre? These are questions that should be asked by deep seaports promoters because the destination of cargoes which is the core component of a deep seaport cannot be overlooked.

“People should not politicise deep seaports the way they did to all the moribund river ports that we have in the country now. Sapele, Warri and all of them, what has happened to them? Is that what people want to happen in the case of deep seaports? No.

“Deep seaports must accommodate the mega ships. When we talk of mega ships, we are talking of vessels that accommodate more than 20,000 Teus. In mega ships, we have C class vessels and E class vessels.

“For promoters of deep seaports, if they don’t get their act right, only C class ships will visit their ports. C class ships are mega ships with 8000 Teus. They won’t be able to accommodate E class vessels that carry from 18,000 to 20,000 Teus.

“Nigerians should be wary of developing deep seaports that will not accommodate the mega vessels that are presently visiting the world’s leading ports.