APM Terminals (APMT) Apapa, Nigeria’s largest container terminal, has invested $438 million in upgrading its facility with modern cargo equipment.
This major investment marks the largest of any port operator in Nigeria, APMT wrote.
Through this, the operator believes the terminal is on an “exciting journey of major transformation” in order to deliver greater, sustainable benefits to the Nigerian economy and society.
“Since inception, we have invested around $438 million purely in handling equipment we have in the terminal. We have acquired mobile harbour cranes, rubber-tyred gantry cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, terminal trucks, empty handlers and invested in yard improvements,” said Steen Knudsen, Terminal Manager of APMT Apapa.
“Of equal importance is the ongoing investment in the development of our workforce, ensuring that we can continuously develop our staff. This covers training, career progression and, of course, expanding the business and creating new jobs.
“At the moment we are also focusing on investing in our facilities: renovating our buildings, upgrading in-gate and out-gate facilities, terminal fencing and lighting. We have also equipped the parking area access with a facial recognition system and expanded our terminal fleet with new shuttle buses and pickup trucks.”
Further investments will see the adoption of global best practices for digitalised products, such as advanced online container tracking and monitoring, container email notifications and online billing and payments.
Digitisation is clearly an important element the terminal wants to utilise, following the deployment of a 4G LTE wireless network, and a new Operation Command Centre to enhance quality service delivery.
“We remain committed to deepening our investment in Apapa to enable us to handle increasing volumes at the port. Our investments will create capacity to handle growth in the economy to support the Federal Government’s efforts on trade growth and improve service delivery across the logistics chain,” concluded Knudsen.
APMT Buenos Aires has also invested significant amounts to upgrade its equipment and safety by commissioning a mobile harbour crane and opening a ‘safety dojo’.
According to a statement from APMT, the new, latest generation, mobile harbour crane that has been commissioned allows for safer and more efficient operations, with a capacity of 154 tons and 54-meter reach.
This will contribute to faster and more efficient loading and discharging of customers’ vessels, harnessing increasing global cargo volumes.
