The Nigerian Port Authority announced that it is looking for more Public Private Partnership to fix up the infrastructure at Tincan Island Port.
According to Nairametrics, this was revealed on Thursday by the Managing Director of NPA, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, at the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria Breakfast Meeting with the theme ‘Rehabilitation of Tin Can Island Port: Proffering Workable Solutions’.
The NPA proposes to do this for the Tincan Island quay apron in order to accommodate larger ships and improve trade efficiency.
He added that the NPA was looking at a long-term Public Private Partnership arrangement for the rehabilitation of the Tincan Island quay apron and that the reconstruction of the Tincan Island quay apron is at the top of the NPA’s infrastructure renewal agenda, which includes all of the country’s ports.
“Tincan Island is one of the country’s busiest ports. These ports, notably those in Lagos, are processing more cargo than they were designed to handle in the last twenty years.”
The NPA chairman said that Tincan Island Port has been in operation since 1977, and that the Tincan Port and Lagos Port Complex handle between 60 and 75 percent of cargo that enters the country.
However, he stated that the impact on the facility was not favorable, but that actions were being taken to ensure that the facilities remained operational.
“There is information circulating that vessels cannot enter the Tincan Island environment, but data does not lie.” MSC Maureen, which berthed at TinCan in May, has a total length of 300 meters, making it the second largest vessel to visit our area.
“We believe that our infrastructure is inadequate, but it has been able to accommodate the arrival of this vessel while they work out solutions to address issues.”
“Also, on June 28, the largest RoRo Vessel arrived at the Tincan Island axis, berthed around Port and Terminal Multiservice Ltd., discharged cargo, and left,” he stated.
He claimed that they are currently in the final stages of discussions with both local and international partners who have the necessary financial and technical expertise to forge this infrastructure development effort.”
“NPA is not sitting on its laurels; they are taking specific, tangible, and verifiable steps to develop port infrastructure across the country, with Tincan Island at the forefront.”
Recall that the Nigerian Ports Authority recently announced intentions to auction containers that have beyond their allowed time at Nigerian ports in order to relieve congestion and increase efficiency.
The NPA reported that the ports in Lagos, Tincan Island, and the Eastern-based ports are currently overburdened with a sizable amount of overtime cargo and containers, which has contributed to the deterioration of infrastructure.
