APM Invests N21.6b In Apapa Facility

APM Terminals Apapa Limited’s Board of Directors has approved $135 million (N21.6 billion) capital investment plan.

This is to acquire another 25 hectares (62 acres) area, eight new mobile harbour cranes and 13 rubber-tyre gantry cranes (RTGs) to boost annual container throughput capacity at the container terminal at Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa, Lagos, from 600,000 to over one million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2015.

“We have done a lot of catching up over the past five years, but we are going to be setting the pace here for West African port operations for the next 50 years,” declared APM Terminals Managing Director, Mr. Dallas Hampton.

Since assuming managerial control of the Apapa Container Terminal (now APM Terminals, Apapa) under a 25-year lease agreement in 2006, APM Terminals has invested $190 million (N30.4 billion) in infrastructure improvements, new equipment and training.

Container throughput, during this period, has more than tripled to over 600,000 TEUs, as vessel waiting times have been slashed and average operational productivity has quadrupled from six moves per hour to 24, using mobile harbour cranes.

The facility has earned its placing as the largest and busiest container terminal in West Africa, with 485,000 TEUs handled in 2010, and is projected to surpass 600,000 TEUs in 2011.

With a recently dredged 13.5 metre draught and 1,005 metres of quay, APM Terminals Apapa is also one of the few facilities able to accommodate the newest 250 metre-long 4,500 TEU capacity West Africa-Max (Wafmax) vessels entering into the West African trade lanes.

The largest vessels previously calling at West African ports were limited to approximately 3,500 TEU capacity.

Hampton said: “We have just ordered three new mobile harbour cranes for delivery next April, which will bring the number to nine, and one ship to shore (STS); the new expansion project, which will develop the north side of the terminal will add another eight mobile harbour cranes and 13 RTGs, as well as enhance information technology (IT) and other operations-related equipment.”