The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has tasked the management of APM Terminals to ensure the completion of rail linkage at Apapa Port for the effective evacuation of cargoes from the port.
This call was made during a working visit by the management team of APM Terminals to the NSC at its headquarters in Lagos on Wednesday.
Emmanuel Jime, the executive secretary of NSC, said the Council is promoting the establishment of Inland Dry Ports all over the country and that it can only be effective with the use of rail to evacuate cargoes to their destinations.
Represented by Ada Ezedinma, the director of Regulatory Services, Jime said that the Minister of Transportation, Mau’zu Sambo has instructed that the rail linkage to the ports should be completed for cargo evacuation.
He however said the Council is looking forward to a collaboration between it, APMT and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to achieve this feat as quickly as possible.
Jime also urged APM Terminals to ensure all its terminals are duly registered and effective information sharing exists between the Council and the terminal.
Igor van den Essen, APM Terminals’ Regional Managing Director, Africa and Europe, expressed the commitment of the global terminal operator to work with the council to enhance the competitiveness of the nation’s seaports.
APM Terminals are the operators of APM Terminals Apapa, West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) Onne and an inland container terminal in Kano.
Essen emphasised the need for collaboration by all stakeholders to address the bottlenecks associated with cargo inspection and evacuation from the port.
He said APM Terminals is constantly looking for ways to improve on its processes to enhance service delivery to shipping lines, importers, exporters and agents.
He also said that functional rail lines are crucial to ease pressure on the roads in evacuation of cargo from the port.
“The rail for us is an extremely important initiative because it is a necessary addition to the traditional evacuation of cargoes by land. Rail will be cost-efficient for the shippers to move cargoes from the port and also into the port,” he said.
The APM Terminals Regional Managing Director said as a global terminal operator, his company has made substantial investments in Apapa, Onne and Kano.
