Lekki Port receives largest container vessel

By Adaku Onyenucheya

LEKKI Port has successfully berthed Maersk Edirne, a 13,092 twenty- foot equivalent unit ( TEUS) largest container ship to ever berth in Nigeria till date.

The container vessel, which docked at Lekki Port at 2: 42p. m. yesterday, is one of 13 large container vessels which form the new CMA CGM WAX service that will operate along key locations including Xiamen, Qingdao, Shanghai, Singapore, Lekki Port, and Abidjan.

Lekki Port is the only port in Nigeria that is in this impressive port rotation. The MAERSK EDIRNE is a container ship with a length overall ( LOA) of 366 meters and a width of 48 meters.

The next large container vessel scheduled to arrive in Lekki Port is the CMA CGM Scandola, an LNG powered vessel with a carrying capacity of 14,000 TEUS.

Speaking on attainment of the milestone, Chairman of Lekki Port, Mr. Biodun Dabiri, while congratulating the management team on this feat, said the port has the capacity to berth such large vessels with its modern facilities and world- class equipment. Dabiri said Lekki Port has put Lagos State and Nigeria on the global maritime map as this is the beginning of the actualisation of the maritime hub status for Nigeria in the sub- Saharan African region.

Also speaking after the arrival of the vessel, Chief Operating Officer of Lekki Port, Laurence Smith, described the berthing of such a large vessel as a positive development that would contribute significantly to improve the nation’s economy through delivery of more cargo and reduced shipping costs. He commended the container terminal operator, Lekki Freeport Terminal, a subsidiary of CMA CGM, who have provided terminal services to port users since the commencement of commercial operations in April 2023, for their dedicated efforts to make the container terminal the best in the country.