Largest container vessel berths at Lekki Port ahead of commissioning

Ahead of the commissioning of the Lekki Deep Seaport by President Muhammadu Buhari – set for today – the largest container vessel has already berthed at the port.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) announced the arrival of the vessel, owned and operated by the French shipping firm CMA/CGM, on Sunday.

“Ahead of President’s commissioning of Lekki Port for commercial operations tomorrow (Monday), one of the largest container vessels, the CMA-CGM, has berthed at the port,” said NPA.

“Once more, NPA has proven that it is prepared to offer marine services for seamless port operations.”

The Lekki Deep Seaport is a state-of-the-art facility that is the largest seaport and one of the biggest in West Africa that would revolutionise the way goods are transported and traded in Nigeria.

The port has three terminals:

• the container terminal,

• the liquid terminal, and

• the dry bulk terminal.

The container terminal has an initial draft of 14 metres, with the potential for further dredging to 16.5 metres. Also, the terminal is able to handle 2.5 million twenty-foot standard containers per year.