The Rivers Port, Port Harcourt is expecting its first Roll on/Roll off (RoRo) operations in the next couple of weeks as the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority continues effort to improve vessel traffic to the eastern ports.
The first RoRo vessels to berth in the history of the Rivers Port is scheduled to depart the United States in the middle of March and arrive 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 introduction of RoRo operations will in no small measure increase the revenue base of Rivers Port in particular and NPA as a whole,” NPA spokesman, Jatto Adams, wrote in a statement on Sunday.
“The feat is traceable to intentional commitment and landmark reforms that the current management of the NPA has instituted towards ensuring that all ports in Nigeria become optimally functional.”
Mr Jatto said some of the steps taken by the authority include the “introduction of 10 percent discount on harbour dues on some categories of cargoes berthing at the eastern ports, the dredging of Escravos Channel in Warri, the deployment of equipment and machinery to improve operational efficiency, constant engagement with stakeholders towards achieving industrial harmony and peaceful co-existence, conversations 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, NIMASA 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 roads access to and from ports in the region.”
He said the NPA management led by Hadiza Usman assured of its commitment to ensuring that all ports in Nigeria operate at maximum capacity.
