Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — In an apparent move to boost zero carbon emissions from the shipping industry and efficient cargo delivery in Nigeria, French shipping Company CMA-CGM Monday received the first and largest Liquid Natural Gas, LNG powered vessel carrying about 14,000 containers.
Speaking at the arrival ceremony in Lagos, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola said that there is Ministerial directive to take cognizance of global energy transition in its port modernization project by deliberately factoring in measures that promote energy efficiency.
Oyetola also said that “the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is convinced that shipping has a pivotal role to play in global decarbonisation efforts, this is why I would like to seize this moment to commend the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority’s compliance with the Ministerial directive to take cognizance of global energy transition in its port modernization project by deliberately factoring in measures that promote energy efficiency.
Apart from its distinctive feature of eco-friendliness, ‘Scandola’ ranks amongst the largest container ships to be calling in West Africa with 15,000 TEUs.
Lekki Deep Seaport’s natural depth of 16 meters added to its multifaceted efficiencies, state-of-the-art equipment and robust infrastructure which offers a capacity of up to 1.2 million TEUs in this phase 1 positions the Port to serve as a mega transshipment hub, to Nigeria’s neighboring countries in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond.
With shipping volumes promising to get higher, forward-looking investments such as the one we are gathered here to celebrate will certainly have a big impact in the long run.
The imperative of making our Ports eco-friendly is no fluke. We will continue to support the NPA in its efforts at ensuring stakeholders’ compliance with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Sulphur Regulation on Nigerian Waterways.
The driver of this change is the need to minimize the air pollution created in the shipping industry by reducing the Sulphur content of the fuels that ships use. So transition to the use of natural gas which is more environmentally friendly by vessels plying our waterways is a most welcome development.
To put action behind our word, we have taken concrete steps towards the procurement of necessary tools to enhance NPA’s capacity for Sulphur analysis as well as put in place a sanction regime for vessels who contravene the Sulphur regulations.
This is driven by in the larger national interest due to the fact that Nigeria’s gas quality is reputed to be high and virtually without Sulphur.
I have said all of these to show that we align with the global discourse which posits that the reduction in the use of heavy hydrocarbons and increasing the use of LNG in maritime transport could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other pollution arising from international trade. This is a step in the right direction as we confront the challenges associated with climate change and air quality.
“Let me add that the administration of his Excellency President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is poised to continuously supporting noble investor efforts such as this all in a concerted bid to optimize the rich blue economy inherent in our maritime endowments.”
Similarly speaking at the arrival ceremony of the vessel ‘M.V. Scandola’ Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu said that the arrival of this size of vessel has put both Lagos and Nigeria on the map of the global logistics business.
Sanwo Okay also said that the ceremony was in tandem with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Green House Gas (GHG) Strategy 2023, which envisages a reduction in carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by the year 2030.
Sanwo Olu said: “In less than one year, given all of the difficulties of a big business like this, Lekkie Port or Lekkie Freeport Terminal, is receiving the biggest container terminal in the world at its premises.
“I think it’s a big feat. It’s something that we really, really need to roll out drums and be proud of, because what that is about is that indeed, we’re putting Lekki Freeport, we’re putting Lagos, we’re putting Nigeria into the world’s global logistics marine business.
“This is a business that has been a privilege to a few countries, developed countries in America, in Europe, in the Far East, in some parts of Africa as well. But now, given the size of all the vessels that we can receive, given the size of the business that can come to our community,
“The Lekki Freeport and the Lekki Port itself, has put and enshrined our name as one of the big movers of port transactions in the world. It is not taking anything away from the Lagos Ports, from the Apapa Port, or from the Tin-Can Port. We know from time, and we have said it over and over again, that those ports were developed to meet the country’s import and export needs of that time.
“But our capacity has since grown, and we knew as a nation, we needed to think about the need to build bigger infrastructure,
“We need to build bigger facilities, and we’re excited that we found a home in Lekki, in Ibeju Lekki here in Lagos, and also be the home for the Lekki Freeport, or the Lekki Deep Port.
“Today, I’m excited and I’m delighted that I’ve been given the honor to also come and witness the arrival of this big pot. And I think it speaks to what this government is about at the federal level, what the conversation has been, that indeed Nigeria, he’s ready for business.
Nigeria, he’s creating a business environment that investors can see that indeed this is a government or this is a leadership government that is committed, that is showing that businesses can thrive, can do well, and we can really, really win what we see.
“But more importantly for us in Lagos is to say to you that we’re excited, that these are exciting times for us. We believe we still have capacity for a lot more. We believe that.
“And I believe maritime, and the port business is one of the real drivers, one of the verticals that can create that economy for us. And for us, it’s not that we’re just mouthing. We believe that if we want to say that indeed Africa is the future of the world, is to say that Africa is the untapped continent in the world,
“The only place that you can begin to see that is in Nigeria because of the sheer number that we have. It’s not by our own making. It’s by providence. And we need to take the opportunity.
“For all ourselves, we need to be able to prepare our home, prepare ourselves, and be ready to receive the world. And that’s why we’re excited. But in the chromosomes of Africa and Nigeria is this 90-month city called Lagos.
“So, Lagos will continue to play that leadership role. Lagos will continue to play that act that we can use as a catalyst to drive our country and, by extension, drive our continent.
“And so we owe nobody any apology that Lagos is just starting. We’re just starting to be the largest economy in Africa. We want to do it bigger and better. It’s not an apology.
“I want to make it the safest part of the entire sub-Saharan Africa. And we will keep to that.
We want to ensure that people will come here, businesses will come here, will do well, will thrive, we will create the ambience and the environment for them to know that their investment is safe and secured.
“That is the kind of economy we want to develop. That is the kind of partnership we want to develop.
“And this entire zone that has been tagged as a free trade zone harbours not only the biggest deep seaports in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, it also hosts the biggest, largest single-train refinery in the world.
“And it is, indeed, that we’re happy that everything is happening here. And it is, indeed, that we’re happy that everything is happening around this corridor. Let’s give it to Lekki and Lekki and Lekki people for being a home to all of this.
“But for me, as your governor, I’m truly even more excited because in the last three days, globally, it’s been a job that leaves us that we’re the 19th most, you know, attractive city in the world.
“Because the world is talking about us. And so, we have to be intentional. As citizens, as clear as a label, we’ll have to be deliberate to say that we’re not just ending that position by sheer mouth. It is the kind of work we do.”
