Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — In a bid to get the International Standard Organization, ISO, certification, the Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has commenced moves to upgrade its control tower located at the Lagos Port Complex, LPC, with a view to creating an environment for its marine operations.
The agency is poised to ensure optimal utilisation of its facilities across the nation’s seaports with a view to positioning the ports on a competitive edge in the West and Central African sub region.
Disclosing this in Lagos, Acting Managing Director of the NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, while on a tour of the facility, said the upgrade will reposition the ports on a competitive edge in the West and Central African sub region.
He stated: ”We aspire to be competitive in the sub region. One of the ways to achieve this is by ensuring our facilities, such as the Control Towers are up to date and upgraded to work with modern communication and radar systems. This would improve communication, reduce ship waiting time and further reduce the cost of doing business at our ports.’’
In conformity with the above, a second control tower at Tincan Port is also being upgraded to provide communication with ships using the VHF frequency.
The NPA boss said the rehabilitated control towers will also have updated radar and communication equipment that will enable communication between the ports in Lagos and Lekki Deep Sea port and Dangote Refinery jetty.
‘‘We are deploying more marine equipment like pilot cutters and security patrol boats at various port locations in order to improve port efficiency and security around the ports.’’