21st October, 2011
According to recent statistics released by the General Manager, Public Affairs, NPA, Chief Michael Ajayi, the Nigeria Ports Authority in its monthly report of August, 2011 has witnessed increased container and vehicle traffic as compared to the same period last year.
The statistics shows the laden contained throughout stood at 71,263 TEUs which is an increase of 21.9% over the same period of August, 2010 figure of 58,470 TEUs.
The empty containers throughout stood at 50,456 TEUs showing a rise of 12.6% over the August, 2010 figure of 44,822.
Vehicle traffic in the month under review stood at 22,722 representing a 30.2% increase over the August, 2010 figure of 17,449.
According to the Managing Director, NPA, Engr. Omar Suleiman, the commitment of the management of the authority to regularly dredge the channels in order to attract bigger vessels with large cargo volume is a reflection of the improvement witnessed in the operations of the nation’s seaports and in line with the management efforts in making Nigerian ports the hub in the West and Central Africa region.
The gross tonnage of the ocean going vessels stood at 10,026,813 which showed a 6.2% increase over the same period of August 2010 figure of 9,437,966.
—Falobi Moses