APM Terminals' Onne, Nigeria port welcomes bigger ships

December 30 2013 Print This Article
Onne, Nigeria- The 4,500 TEU capacity Maersk Copenhagen called APM Terminals' West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in Onne (Port Harcourt), Nigeria. becoming the largest vessel to visit the Eastern Nigerian port. The port is located along the Bonny River near Port Harcourt in Rivers State and serves major markets in East Nigeria and the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The Nigerian Port Authority was instrumental in making this a success by widening the channel and removing some wrecks in the Bonny Channel.

The port call was a trial stop for Maersk Line's weekly Far East-West Africa (FEW2) service, which is comprised of 22 West Africa-Maximum (Waf-Max) sized vessels that are equipped with on-board cranes and draft 12.5 meters (41 feet), are 37.4 meters (123 feet) wide, 249 meters (817 feet) long, representing the largest vessels that can currently be accommodated at West Africa's major container ports. The weekly service links the ports of Busan, Korea; Shanghai, Ningbo, and Guangzhou, China and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia; with Walvis Bay, Namibia; Apapa, Onne, Nigeria; and Luanda, Angola.

We are very pleased with the arrival of the first 4,500 TEU vessel size to the West Africa Container Terminal at Onne. We are investing USD 30 million in the terminal to serve our customers more efficiently and safely, while installing the essential port infrastructure necessary for Nigeria's economic future noted APM Terminals' Africa-Middle East Regional Head, Peder Sondergaard.