The Rivers Port, Port Harcourt, is set to receive its first roll- on/roll-off vessel.
According to the Nigerian Ports Authority, the RoRo vessel is scheduled to depart the United States of America in the middle of March and will arrive in Port Harcourt in April.
Roro vessels are usually loaded with automobiles.
“This is a milestone in the history of Rivers Port and the whole of the eastern ports,” the NPA said in a statement signed by its General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Jatto Adams.
It added that the introduction of RoRo operations would increase the revenue base of the Rivers Port in particular and the NPA as a whole.
The agency attributed the development to the commitment and reforms carried out by its current management towards ensuring that all ports in Nigeria would become optimally functional.
It listed steps taken in this regard as the introduction of 10 per cent discount on harbour dues on some categories of cargoes berthing at the eastern ports; dredging of Escravos Channel in Warri; deployment of equipment and machinery to improve operational efficiency; and constant engagement with stakeholders towards achieving industrial harmony and peaceful co-existence.
Others are conversation with shipping companies, which saw the deployment of flat-bottom vessels to Calabar; working with the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, and the Port Police Command to combat crimes on the nation’s waterways as well as engaging with the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure the rehabilitation of access roads to and from ports in the region.
