By Joshua Yousouph
Ahead of its official commencement of commercial operations in September, the $1.5bn Lekki Deep sea port has received its second vessel, ZHEN HUA 35.
The vessel which berthed at the port last Wednesday with general cargo is suspected to be laden with construction materials for the completion of the port.
And according to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the port received “the second batch of shipments comprising two ship-to-shore cranes with 115 packages of accessories, and five Rubber-Tyre-Gantry cranes with 270 packages of accessories from Shanghai, China on the Zhen Hua 35 vessel.
Recall that in July, the port received its first-ever vessel, ZHEN HUA 28. The ship brought three Ship To Shore (STS) cranes and 10 Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes.
Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the designation of Lekki Deep Seaport as a Customs Port and Approved Wharf via a message through the Ministry of Transportation to the Managing Director of Nigerian Port Authority (NPA); Mohammed Bello-Koko. It stated that it has secured the approval for the port to be gazetted in line with extant laws.
Similarly, the plan for the commissioning of the deep seaport by September 2022 is gathering momentum as the management of the port, has also announced that the construction of the port has reached 95.65 per cent completion. The port’s management assured us that it is ready for take-off by September, 2022.
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According to the report on the official social media handle of the promoters of the port, it was gathered that the dredging and reclamation have reached 98.43 per cent; construction of the quay wall has reached 96.07 cent; breakwater at 92.99 per cent while landside infrastructure has reached 90.61 per cent.
The promoters, however, said they were focused on the completion of the project by September and commercial operation to start by year-end.
The statement reads, “We are delighted to announce that the construction of Lekki Port is now at 95.65% completion. Our management, board of directors, shareholders, EPC Contractors and the project manager remain focused on our objective to complete construction by September 2022 and start port operations by the end of the year.
“The wait to behold a deep seaport with a container terminal operated with efficiency and world-class standards in Nigeria is almost over.”
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