The Federal Government on Friday inaugurated Bollard Pull Tug Boats (vessels) at the Lagos ports acquired by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Justifying the need for the unveiling of the new vessels, NPA Managing Director/CEO, Mohammed Bello Koko said the government was driven by the need to provide efficient domestic cargo needs, win back transit cargo hitherto lost to neighbours and cater to the maritime requirements of landlocked neighbours.
He explained that the state-of-the-art vessels, a three-pronged strategy of people technology, infrastructure and equipment, are part of the fulfilment of the agency’s service charter to provide relevant marine crafts to support port security, patrol, surveillance and deliver excellent marine services, especially with the commencement of operations of Nigeria’s first Deep Seaport, the Lekki Deep Seaport
Bello Koko was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdelene Ajani.
He said: “I am greatly delighted and honoured to welcome you to this occasion, which is a demonstration of this administration’s resolve to position the Nigerian Ports Authority to respond squarely to the contemporary demands of trade facilitation.
“Imbued by our corporate aspiration of attaining hub status by more efficiently servicing domestic cargo needs, winning back transit cargo hitherto lost to our maritime neighbours and positioning to cater to the maritime requirements of our landlocked neighbours, we have deployed a three-pronged strategy driven by people technology, infrastructure and equipment such as the state-of-the-art vessels we are gathered here to commission today.
“This occasion is part of the fulfilment of our service charter to provide relevant marine crafts to support port security, patrol, surveillance, and most importantly deliver excellent marine services, especially with the commencement of operations of Nigeria’s first Deep Seaport, the Lekki Deep Seaport.
“Our determination to continuously enhance our operational efficiencies accounts for the purchase of these new 80 Ton Bollard Pull Tugboats christened M.T MAIKOKO and M.T DA-OPUKURO to complement our existing fleet of tugs and recently commissioned Security Patrol Boats (SPBs) and Pilot Cutters deployed to enhance channel security across all our locations”.
