Largest container vessel in Nigeria berths at Lekki seaport

Largest container vessel in Nigeria berths at Lekki seaport

The largest container carrier on Nigerian territorial waters on Sunday birthed at the Lekki Deep Seaport.
The vessel, ‘Maersk Edirne’, has 367m in length and a breadth of 48.2m.

Before now, the largest commercial vessels to sail in Nigeria were ‘MV Stadelhorn’ and ‘MSC Maureen’ at Onne Port and TinCan Island Port Complexes.

Maersk Edirne was loaded with a Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of 142,131metric tonnes and a Dead weight Tonnage (DWT) of 147,340 metric tonnes, constituting 3,376 total cargo onboard.

It was navigated to safety by pilots of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Managing Director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, said during the signing of the presidential/ministerial performance bond last month that ‘the agency was poised to provide the leadership and technical guidance required to maximise the potential of the marine and blue economy.

Bello-Koko hailed the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for the endorsement of the authority’s initiatives and investments in employee upskilling and equipment renewal which made this milestone seamlessly achievable.

The Lekki deep seaport has also pioneered the full automation and facilitation of transshipment.