APM Terminals (APMT) has unveiled two new mobile harbour cranes (MHCs) at its terminal at Apapa Port, Nigeria, as the port’s technological upgrade continues.
In a statement, APMT said the MHCs cost $80 million, and their acquisition brought the total investment in the port to $438 million, the most any private terminal operator has ever invested in Nigeria.
They were unveiled by the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman.
While commending the management of APM Terminals for acquiring the new cranes, Bala Usman said, as the ports become more efficient, efforts must be made to enhance cargo delivery processes and free the ports of longstanding cargo.
“We are engaging with the Nigeria Customs Service to remove overtime containers from the port to free vital space for incoming cargo,” she said.
“We are also working with terminal operators to increase the barging of containers to take pressure off the roads. We have noted a significant growth in barging capacity and operations with more containers moved daily by barges from the port.”
Head of Terminals, Africa and Middle East region, APMT, Mr David Skov, commented that this latest acquisition was in addition to previous investments of $358million in port infrastructure development, information technology upgrades and modern cargo handling equipment to improve both quayside and landside operations.
He said, “The additional investment we are making is to handle the increased trade volumes into Nigeria. Trade in Nigeria is growing due to the many favorable efforts and policies of the Federal government of Nigeria including but not limited to the policy on ease of doing business; stabilization of foreign exchange; closure of the land borders which has increased the use of our sea ports; and diversification of the economy.
“The additional investments will create capacity to handle the growth in the economy to support the Federal government’s efforts on trade growth and improve service delivery across the logistic chain in Nigeria.”
He said with the acquisition of the new cranes, the terminal now operates with a total of 10 Mobile Harbour Cranes; 23 Rubber-Tyred Gantry Cranes; six Empty Handlers; 48 specialised Truck Terminals, six Reach Stackers and 11 Forklifts.
