Buhari unveils Lekki Deep Sea Port

By Abiodun OBA

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday unveiled the Lekki Deep Sea Port the largest in Nigeria and in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

The $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Seaport which is first in Nigeria, offers enormous support to the burgeoning commercial operations across Nigeria and the entire West African region.

The unveiling of the Port is part of Buhari’s projects inauguration in Lagos.

Although the President did not speak before and after unveiling the project, he took a brief inspection trip around the project to inspect the facilities.

Speaking at the event, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the Lekki Deep Sea Port is a total combination of the efforts of the Federal Government, Lagos State Government and the private sector.

Sanwo-Olu stated that the project was started and completed in the administration of Buhari, adding that the size of vessels that would be coming to the Lekki Port could be up to four times the size of vessels that currently berth at both Tin Can and Apapa Ports.

The governor said the project would provide thousands of direct and hundreds of thousands indirect jobs to Lagosians and thanked all that brought it to reality.

“The project is a total combination of efforts of the Federal Government, Lagos State and the private sector and we are happy that this is happening in your time.

“It all started within your time, and it has been completed within your time. The size of vessels that will be coming here could be up to four times the size of vessels that currently berth at both Tin Can and Apapa Ports.

“So, it is a massive infrastructure, and we are indeed excited that something fresh has been impacted into this country and it is going to generate thousands and thousands of jobs directly and hundreds of thousands of jobs indirectly in the entire ecosystem and this is your own project, and we are excited.”

Buhari, on arrival with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was conducted round the port’s 1.5km long main.

The seaport’s spanning over 600 meters, is enough for a vessel of up to 16,000 standard containers (TEU). The approach channel is 11 km long.

The Lekki Deep Seaport made history last year as it received the first-ever vessel (Zhen Hua 28) to berth at the port.

The port has three terminals: the container terminal, the liquid terminal, and the dry bulk terminal.

According to the promoters, the container terminal has an initial draft of 14 metres, with the potential for further dredging to 16.5 metres. The terminal is able to handle 2.5 million 20-foot standard containers per year.

The deep-sea port of Lekki is the first port in Nigeria with ship-to-shore cranes. It has three of these container gantry cranes; they belong to the “Super-post-Panamax” group – this means that they can reach and unload the rearmost row of containers even if the container ship is wider than the Panama Canal (49m or 160ft maximum boat beam).

The STS cranes have a fixed rail at the quayside. They can lift 65 tons in twin-lift mode, 50 tons in single-lift mode or 85 tons under a hook.

The port’s computerised system will allow container identification and clearance from the office, and human interaction will be minimal in the physical operations.

When phase 2 is completed, the deep seaport will have three liquid berths. The liquid cargo terminal will handle vessels up to 45,000 DWT (dead weight tonnage) and can expand to reach a capacity of 160,000 DWT.

Liquids (like petrol or diesel) will be handled at a tank farm near the port. The docking area is equipped with loading arms. It is also connected by pipelines along the breakwater.

The bulk terminal with an available quay length of 300m can accommodate a Panamax class vessel (75,000 DWT).eils $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Seaport