Cautious optimism as business activities pick up at Onne Port

Before now, the expansive Onne Port had remained dormant, with very low vessels and cargo traffic. The low vessels traffic was blamed on diversion of all the vessels and cargos going to eastern ports to Lagos. The development forced some of the key companies doing business at the port to relocate to Lagos. Shell Snepco […]

Before now, the expansive Onne Port had remained dormant, with very low vessels and cargo traffic. The low vessels traffic was blamed on diversion of all the vessels and cargos going to eastern ports to Lagos. The development forced some of the key companies doing business at the port to relocate to Lagos.

Shell Snepco was one of the companies that planned to move its business operation out of Onne to Lagos. But the move was resisted by the youth, men and women of the community, who claimed that the planned relocation of the company would lead to loss of 5,000 jobs.

The protesting youths, led by the president of Onne Youth Federation, Godwin Tewa, had argued that the planned relocation of Snepco would affect the economy of the people of the area and the Niger Delta as a whole, who he said earned their living from jobs in the company.

Critical stakeholders at the port, such as clearing agents, vessel owners, as well as those involved in haulage businesses, had also complained about the near comatose  of the  port, which they claimed nearly put them out of business.

Some Niger Delta stakeholders had also argued that the dormant nature of the port was politically motivated to undermine the economy of the region.

But the recent berthing of Maersk containership from Far East to Onne seems to have changed the ugly story of the port for good. In August, the port received Maersk’s first direct service containership from the Far East.

The gearless ship, named KYPARISSIA, with a capacity of 4,800 TEUs and brought to the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in Onne Port by Maersk under its FEW3 service, is the first of such vessels to berth at the port without first calling at any port in Lagos.

The commercial manager of the WACT, Noah Sheriff, was quoted as saying, “The long-awaited FEW3 service, which is a direct service from the Far East into eastern Nigeria, has started; and we are here to witness the first call.

With our mobile harbour cranes operations, we are positioned to handle such gearless vessels calling on our facility. The Nigerian Ports Authority’s (NPA) initiative to bring larger vessels into other ports is aligned with our phase 2 terminal upgrade project, which will see our number of mobile harbour cranes and other container-handling equipment increased by the third quarter of this year.

It is important to note that this new service will call the WACT Onne weekly, coupled with the benefit of a short transit time for cargos coming from the Far East. This is a product many customers have been asking, and we at the WACT shall ensure that we turn these vessels around quickly.”

The eastern Nigeria manager of Maersk Nigeria Limited, Madam Chibuzor Ejiofor, according to information obtained by our correspondent from the NPA journal, the ship call is historic and will benefit the businesses in the eastern port.

“We need to create awareness to the coming of KYPARISSIA, not because she is one of the largest vessels that ever called Onne, but she is the first Far East vessel that will be calling Onne without calling Lagos ports.

Not to impact the Onne-based customers or cargos destined for eastern Nigeria so much, Maersk decided to put Onne on a direct service from the Far East. That doesn’t mean that Maersk doesn’t call Lagos. We are still calling Tin Can and Apapa, but that is on another service altogether. We now have a service that comes all the way from the Far East to Onne without calling Lagos.

So, for Onne-based customers, I think that’s something to be really attractive as it adds value to your business. You can get your cargo on time directly from the Far East without adding 30 days of Lagos waiting time. You can turn around your money and products, and that’s why we are here, just to recognise this unique offering to our customers,’’ Ejiofor was quoted as saying.

The manager of Onne Port, Ismaila Al-Hassan, who was represented at a brief reception for the gearless vessel by the port’s traffic manager, Prince Zhattau, described the direct Maersk service to the port as a welcome development as it will help in decongesting Lagos ports.

The Onne Port complex, situated on the Bonny River Estuary, along Ogu Creek, according to the NPA journal,  is the first port of its kind in Nigeria that operated the Landlord Port Model devised to encourage private sector participation in the industry.

Strategically located, the port is one of the largest oil and gas free zones in the world supporting exploration and production for Nigerian activities.

The free zone provides a logistics oil service centre for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, both onshore and offshore. It also provides easy access to the entire West African and sub-Saharan oil fields.

Before the activities of the port nosedived, it was said to have accounted for over 65 per cent of cargoes through the Nigerian seaport.

There are multiple operations in the port, in addition to oil and gas. Some of such multiple operations are general cargoes, bulk cargoes (dry and wet), oil well equipment, containerised cargoes and other logistic services provided to companies that are customers and tenants; hence the port is a multi-purpose cargo destination.

The port is highly industrialised with modern facilities and equipment that can stand the test of time. There is also an adequate land available for development to all customers and prospective investors who desire to partner with operators of the port in the maritime business. The port covers an area of 2,538.115 hectares.

Onne Port has one of the biggest harbour mobile cranes in Africa (Liebherr 600), with a lifting capacity of 208 metric tonnes and 220 Gmk5220 grove twin cranes with the capacity of lifting single heavy cargo of 300 tonnes, owned by one of the terminal operators. Also, safe and comfortable hospitality facilities are available for oil and gas clientele at the free zone/port Area.

The port is on security level one, creating a safe, secure and customer-friendly environment for everyone doing business at there.

The recent berthing of the massive vessel seems to have raised hope for the host communities and those who do business in the port.

A resident of Onne, Emeka Chujor, said the arrival of the vessel directly to the community would turn things around for them and those who do business in the area.

“Because the port had remained dormant with low vessel traffic, many companies sacked their staff and a lot of people were out of business. But the recent berthing of a Maersk vessel directly from the Far East has raised the hope that the economy of this region would pick up,’’ he said.

He called on the Federal Government to allow more vessels to bring cargoes to the port.

Another resident of the area, Olaka Emere, called on the Federal Government to upgrade the port to accommodate more and bigger vessels.

“Onne Port is one of the biggest in Africa. If drained, it would take more vessels and go a long way to boost the economy of Onne and Niger Delta in general. I will appreciate it more if these vessels are allowed to come in. There are so many business interests here, so are many people who earn their living through the businesses they transact with the companies. Many of our youths earn their living through various companies, but when nothing is happening, many of them will be jobless and this will lead to insecurity,’’ he said.

A clearing agent at Onne, Okechukwu Udeh, told our correspondent that the port was left to lie fallow because of what he described as economic politics.

“They really wanted to kill this port because of economic interest. Politicians in the South-West had wanted to boost their economy by making sure that all the vessels that were supposed to berth here are diverted to Lagos. That is the reason for the cargo congestion you witness in Lagos.

Many of us who are into maritime business have been complaining because this does not augur well for the economic wellbeing of this region.

Many of us were put out of business because there was nothing to clear. It is when vessels bring in cargoes that one would think of what to clear, but when nothing is happening, many of us into clearing and forwarding business will be out of business. Things like this have multiplier effects on the maritime value chain,’’ he said.

He called on the Federal Government to upgrade the port to accommodate more and bigger vessels.

Efforts by our correspondent to speak with the public affairs manager of the NPA in Onne, Mrs Babara Ajuluchukwu, on what the authorities are doing to enhance business activities in the port were not successful as she did not reply to a text message sent to her phone.