First Transshipment Vessel Berths in Nigeria’s Port

Gilbert Ekugbe

The management of Lekki Deep Seaport has announced the arrival of the first transshipment vessel to berth on Nigeria’s shore.

The arrival of the CMA CGM RIMBAUD was also the first transshipment vessel to call at the container terminal of $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Seaport.

The vessel, which arrived at approximately 1.00pm yesterday, contained cargo from two of the largest container shipping lines in the world, CMA CGM and Maersk.

The service originated from the Far East, passing through Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou, Nansha, Tanjung Pelpas, Singapore to Kribi, Cameroun, before finally arriving at the Lekki Port.

The vessel was carrying 411 TEUs of transshipment cargo and has a nominal container handling capacity of 6,900 TEUs.

Speaking on the milestone, the Managing Director of Lekki Port, Du Ruogang, expressed appreciation to the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the support in ensuring the start of transshipment activities at Lekki Port.

Also speaking, the Chief Operating Officer, Laurence Smith, noted that all regulatory agencies operating at the port particularly the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) worked together with Lekki Port and the container terminal operator, Lekki Freeport Terminal to ensure a hitch free arrival of the vessel and processing of cargo.

Lekki Port with its state of the art ship-to-shore cranes and sophisticated scanners is now poised to position Nigeria as the preeminent transshipment hub of West Africa.

The transshipped cargo will be departing for Cotonou its final destination on 6th July 2023.