Lagos oldest seapor, Apapa Port on Friday 6th June, 2023 received biggest container vessel ever called at the premier port, 6,600TEUs Kota Canik
This was happenjng barely one month after MSc Maureen, a vessel with a Length Over All (LOA) of 300 meters and breadth of 40 meters berthed at the Tin-Can Island Port Complex in Lagos.
Berthed on Friday 16th June 2023, the vessel christened Kota Canik, which is translated to mean ‘beautiful point’, is designed to carry up to 6,600 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers at a move.
Receiving the vessel which came with containerised goods, Charles Okaga, port manager of the Lagos Port Complex, said that Apapa Port is poised to continuously improve on the quality of service that made the coming of the largest vessel possible.
He assured the shipping company known as Pacific International Line (PIL) that the requisite efficiencies to berth 350 meters long overall vessel being expected at Apapa Port are already in place.
The coming of the 300 meters long overall vessel was described as unprecedented and a testament to the unwavering commitment of the Mohammed Bello Koko-led management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to sustained investment in port infrastructure and equipment that enable operational excellence.
It also signals a turning point and the possibilities that improved infrastructural and equipment upgrades can harness. It also demonstrates the NPA’s readiness to create and sustain improved performance.
At the recent commissioning of two ultra-modern control towers aimed at boosting the safety of navigation and scaling up operations at Apapa and Tin-Can Ports to international standards, Mohammed Bello-Koko reiterated the Authority’s resolve to equip the ports for performance that meet and indeed exceed stakeholders’ expectations.
