Give Warri port a tug boat, Union begs NPA

The Senior Staff Association of Communication Transport and Corporation (SSACTAC) Maritime branch has appealed to the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to deploy at least one of the four newly commissioned tugboats to the eastern ports, especially the Warri port in Delta State.

Speaking with journalists in his office recently, president of SSACTAC, Comrade Benson Adegbeyeni, stressed the need for the agency to deploy a boat to Delta State port, noting that pilotage services in the region has not been effective.

“Warri port has no tugboats and my members over there have been battling on how to sail vessels to berth properly”.

“Calabar Port has one tugboat that is working but the volume of ship traffic over there is very low.”

“The one in Port Harcourt is not working at the moment but we are aware that the Warri Port has no tugboat at all.”

“NPA should be proactive to have a tugboat in Warri and should not wait until traffic is high there before deploying tugboats there,” he added.

He, however, commended the management of NPA for procuring the four tug boats, pointing out that the union fought against outsourcing towage services by NPA, which in turn gave rise to the acquisition of the boats.

In line with revenue drive of the agency, Adegbeyeni reiterated that the new tugboats would boost the revenue profile of the NPA, enhance effective service delivery and improve on the international best practices.

The NPA commissioned four tugboats in Lagos last week, where stakeholders urged the agency to help ameliorate towage operations in the eastern ports.