Amaechi commissions operation command centre at APM Terminals Apapa to enhance efficiency

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, has commissioned a new Operation Command Centre built by APM Terminals Apapa to boost efficiency and service delivery at the terminal.

The Minister, who visited the terminal in the company of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation (FMOT), Magdalene Ajani; Muhammad Baba-Kobi, director, Rail and Transport Services, FMOT; Ibrahim Alhassan Musa, chairman of the Governing Board, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC); Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and Fidet Okhiria, managing director of NRC; was received at the terminal in the Lagos Port Complex by Klaus Laursen, Nigeria Country Manager of APM Terminals.

Laursen said the new Operation Command Centre will, among other benefits, strengthen the exchange of information and coordination in the movement of containers out of the port.

This, he said, will enhance operational efficiency and provide a better work environment at the terminal.

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“The centre is the brain of the business. It is about day-to-day execution where information is exchanged. This is where we decide which container box to put where at which time and the equipment to pick it up so that everything works together. It will help locate containers whether to go on a truck or barge at the right time. It will also help to know where a container is and allocate a piece of equipment to lift the container. That is what the centre will help to do,” he said.

According to him, the equipment in the centre would enable the terminal to improve productivity by putting around 40 to 45 moves per hour across the quay.

“We are targeting about 700 deliveries per day and we would like to double that, so we need stronger delivery capabilities so the importers and the exporters in Nigeria can get faster access to their cargo and possibly at a cheaper rate. What we try to do is to raise the standard and if we raise the standard, we believe that we can also raise the reliability of our operations,” he said.

Laursen also said that the company is in support of the Federal Government’s drive to achieve a rail transportation system in the movement of cargo out of the port to relieve the roads of traffic congestion.

“For an import container terminal that we are, getting the boxes out of the port is the key challenge and with the road situation as it has been in Lagos for a very long time; it makes sense to try to reduce the traffic using the rail. We are here to support and to partner with the government in achieving this,” he said.

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, said the rail line, when completed, will facilitate the movement of containers out of Apapa Port, thereby reducing pressure on the roads.