Determined to facilitate cargo evacuation from the port to importer warehouses, APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria’s leading container terminal by volume, has given support to the Federal Government’s drive to connect the Apapa Port to the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line.
Klaus Laursen, the country managing director of APM Terminals Nigeria, expressed the company’s support when Gbemisola Saraki, the minister of state for transportation visited the terminal last week and said that linking the port to the rail line will facilitate cargo delivery.
Laursen advocated for the use of a multimodal transportation system to evacuate cargo from the port to avoid port congestion. He said APM Terminals Apapa first restored the rail in the port in 2013 leading to the movement of containers from Apapa port to Kano and Kaduna three times a week.
According to him, connecting the port to the new Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail line will offer a cost advantage to consignees and reduce pressure on the road.
Speaking to newsmen on the sideline of the visit, Laursen said in addition to supporting the use of the railway to evacuate cargo, APM Terminals Apapa has encouraged the use of barges to move boxes from the terminal.
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He also said that the terminal has been transformed into a world-class facility, which the country can be proud of.
“Over the past few years, APM Terminals Apapa has been on a remarkable transformation journey. We have led with a strong ambition to become a world-class terminal operator. We enable access to jobs, products, foods, and medicine. For us, it is not just about moving containers around; we are a heartbeat for the society and we create value for our customers,” he said.
On her part, Gbemisola Saraki, the minister of state for transportation, said arrangements have been made to remove the Customs building that is housing a radioactive scanner that had been obstructing the extension of the rail track to the port quay.
“By the end of this month, we want to ensure that the removal of this Customs facility which is on the rail track is resolved. The goal is to have this track operational by the end of this month,” the Minister said.
APM Terminals Apapa is the largest container terminal in Nigeria with an investment of over $438 million in equipment, facilities, and other elements of its operations over the last 15 years. The terminal has continued to introduce new innovations to help both shipping lines and landside customers achieve improved supply chain efficiency and flexibility in a cost-effective manner.
