$1.5bn Lekki Port Reaches 95% Completion; To Commence Operations In September

The management of Lekki Deep Sea Port has said that construction work of the $1.5 billion deep seaport is now at 95.65 per cent completion stage as of July 27.

According to information gathered by Daily Sun on the company’s official social media page, tweeter, the project is on course for completion as scheduled.

The information said its management, board of directors, shareholders, EPC Contractors and the project manager remain focused on its objective to complete construction by September 2022 and start operations by the end of the year.

“We are delighted to announce that the construction of Lekki Port is now at 95.65% completion. Our management, board of directors, shareholders, EPC Contractors and the project manager remain focused on our objective to complete construction by September 2022 and start port operations by the end of the year.

“The wait to behold a deep seaport with a container terminal operated with efficiency and world-class standards in Nigeria is almost over,” the tweeter post read.

Early July this year, the Deep Seaport took delivery of three Super Post Panamax Ships to Shore (STS) cranes and ten Rubber Tired Gantries (RTGs) ahead of the commencement of port operations.

The port also witnessed the arrival of its first berthing vessel, “ZHEN HUA 28″, which conveyed the STS cranes and RTGs to Nigeria from Shanghai, China.

Chairman of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited, Mr Abiodun Dabiri, explained that the arrival of the vessel is historic and it would begin to deliver Nigeria as a regional hub for maritime business.

“Now the vessel we are just received now is carrying some major cranes and those cranes will enhance the transformation business of the deep sea port. Now, the draft the depth of this sea is about 16.5 meters and the vessel itself can only take about 14.5 meters means the implication of this is that there is nowhere in this country that this vessel can berth and that is what makes it historic.

“So in terms of efficiency, when you talk of STS crane, it means ship-to-shore which is devoid of manhandling, you know, it will just be automated. It’s going to be fully automated. It’s going be really an efficient port, which we believe will transform, you know, the maritime business and make Nigeria a regional hub.

“So for us in terms of economic whatever ingredients you’re talking about in terms of growth of GDP, is it diversification of foreign exchange? Is it the creation of employment? Is it adding value to people’s lives and prosperity around this business around this commodity,” he explained.