IN an important milestone for Nigeria’s port industry, Onne Multipurpose Terminal (OMT) has commenced container operations at Onne Port, thereby doubling Eastern Nigeria’s modern container handling capacity and providing a catalyst to the region’s economic growth.
In a statement issued by OMT recently, the terminal operator revealed that on May 2, 2021, MSC Floriana, a vessel belonging to the world’s biggest shipping line, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), berthed at OMT located at Berths 9-11 at the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne Port. OMT offloaded 1297 containers. MSC Floriana’s call marked the culmination of more than one year of preparations and investment by OMT.
“We are all very proud of the successful operation of the vessel. Our advanced cargo handling systems worked well and our operations and technical teams, all recruited from Rivers State, hit the ground running and performed very successfully. We are very confident we can build on this achievement and progressively ramp up performance over the quay and landside to the benefit of all of our customers, shipping lines and cargo owners,” Robert Uljan, Head of Operations, OMT emphasised.
OMT, a subsidiary of the global port operator, International Container Terminal Services
Inc. (ICTSI), is ideally placed to serve shipping lines and Nigeria’s importers and exporters. Backed by a financially strong investor, OMT is a state-of-the-art facility with 750 meters of deep-water quay, 22 hectares of yard area, two of the biggest mobile harbour cranes in Nigeria, ample yard equipment and the latest IT systems powering operations and planning. In fact, OMT will be one of the first terminals worldwide implementing a cloud-based terminal operating system.
Enrique K. Razon, Chairman & President, ICTSI, commenting on OMT’s debut noted: “These are just the first steps. We are bullish on the long-term prospects for the Nigerian economy and we are ready to invest significant funds in OMT. To date, ICTSI has invested $35 million in state-of-the-art equipment, IT systems and personnel training.
“The next step will be major infrastructure works as well as investments in additional and bigger equipment totalling $100 million. We will progressively align OMT’s facilities and service capacity to the needs of the diverse customer base.”
Headquartered and established in 1988 in Manila, Philippines, International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) is in the business of port operations, management and development.
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