The Federal Executive Council has cleared four new channel management companies for seaports across Nigeria, in a bid to improve vessel navigation and port operations.
Capt. Ebubeogu Ihenacho, a former General Manager, Marine and Operations, disclosed this at the recently concluded Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners.
He said the Lagos Channel Management Company Limited and the Bonny Channel Management Company would undergo changes in ownership.
Vanguard could not independently confirm who the new owners are. However, sources close to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said a Belgian company was expected to take over channel management operations at the Lagos ports.
According to Ihenacho, each of the four channels serving Nigeria’s major port clusters will have a different channel management company, as approved by the FEC.
He said a new company had been approved to manage the Lagos port channel, and that it would operate under a new name. The Calabar Channel, he added, would be managed by the Calabar Channel Management Company.
He further stated that the Bonny Channel Management Company had also changed hands.
On the Warri Channel, Ihenacho said the Federal Government had approved China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and two other companies to form a consortium to manage the Escravos Channel.
He said: “For Warri, it was approved for China Harbour Engineering Company, CHEC, and two other companies, who would now form a consortium. That consortium will now form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with the Nigerian Ports Authority to manage the Escravos Channel.”
It will be recalled that NPA management had earlier declined to renew the concessions of the Lagos Channel Management Company Limited and the Bonny Channel Management Company. It opted instead for six-month extensions of the existing arrangements.
