The first fully Nigerian-owned container vessel, Clarion MV Ocean Dragon, has berthed at TinCan Island Port with the aim of moving cargoes across Nigerian ports and West African trade corridors, as well as deepening trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The Panama-flagged vessel, acquired by Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, built in 2014, with a capacity of 349 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), is expected to enhance short-sea shipping and ply trade routes across Nigeria and the West African subregion, while providing alternative to road transport for cargo movement and strengthen trade in Africa.

The vessel is scheduled to operate across West Africa and beyond, servicing ports in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Egypt, South Africa and others, with orders also booked.

Vice President of Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, Bernadine Eloka, who spoke during the unveiling of the vessel in Lagos, yesterday, described the acquisition as a bold solution to the high-risk, road-dominated movement of cargoes within Nigeria and a strategic move to deepen regional trade under the AfCFTA.

She said that the Clarion Group aims to offer more efficient intra-African shipping services while opening up new business opportunities across ports in Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and beyond.

“We acquired MV Ocean Dragon to offer a seamless alternative to container haulage by road. Rather than struggling to move containers from Lekki to Onitsha, Port Harcourt, or Calabar by trucks, Ocean Dragon can move up to 349 containers by sea and deliver within two days from port to port,” Eloka said.

According to her, enforcement of the cabotage regime would encourage local investment, create jobs, and reduce Nigeria’s dependency on foreign-owned shipping lines.

Also, Managing Director of Clarion Suncity Terminal Logistics Limited, Mustafa Mohammed, said the company would take aggressive steps to compete with global giants, such as Maersk Line and MSC, by leveraging its status as Nigeria’s first indigenous shipping liner, investing in assets that directly support Nigerian exporters and importers, particularly in the under-served North.

He said the company had already secured bookings for 1,300 export containers, and is helping farmers and manufacturers to avoid losses caused by delays and lack of containers.

Managing Director of Clarion Group, Adaeze Vanessa Eloka, said the vessel sailed for 60 days from China to Nigeria, revealing that overseeing the vessel’s acquisition and delivery was a massive challenge, especially the language barriers, technical issues and even having to turn back to Malaysia at a point due to engine problems, which was later fixed.