Bonny deep seaport construction to commence soon, NPA confirms

THE Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA) has disclosed that the construction of the Bonny Deep Seaport would kick off within the year and run concurrently with the construction of the Port Harcourt- Maiduguri rail line, which also extends to the seaport.

This was disclosed during the inspection of the proposed site for construction of the Bonny Deep Seaport by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in the company of the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, the Acting Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed BelloKoko and experts from the Ministry, NPA and the contractor.

Amaechi, in a press statement by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Eric Ojiekwe, noted that in choosing the site, considerations must be made towards cost reduction and compensation payment.

He said while the southeast part of the Island was also viable, the most feasible may be the area to the West in Finima, as it would require less dredging.

“The experts have said it will take only 500 metres of dredging at this point to get to 17metres draught which is our target for the depth of the seaport. The moment you reclaim 500metres into the ocean, you get to 17metres draught. You don’t need further dredging. While on the other end, you need 1.16kms dredging to get to the water. It will be more expensive to dredge 1.16km than to build a rail line to this place. We can do the cost analysis and come to a decision,” he said.