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ENL Consortium partners Chinese firm, deploys barges to move cargo from Apapa 

Irked by the perennial gridlock in Apapa, ENL Consortium, (the operator of Terminals C and D, Lagos Port Complex, Apapa) has entered into strategic partnership with a Chinese logistics giant, Sinoma Cargo International to evacuate cargo from the port using barges.    The partnership also incorporated Josephdam Port Services and Lianyungang Port of China.   …

Lagos port

Irked by the perennial gridlock in Apapa, ENL Consortium, (the operator of Terminals C and D, Lagos Port Complex, Apapa) has entered into strategic partnership with a Chinese logistics giant, Sinoma Cargo International to evacuate cargo from the port using barges. 
 
The partnership also incorporated Josephdam Port Services and Lianyungang Port of China. 
 
Lianyungang port is among the 10 largest ports in China and the 30 largest ports in the world.

The cargo throughput of Lianyungang port is 210 million ton per year, while its container throughput is five million TEU per year. 
 
Speaking at an industry event in Lagos, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ENL Consortium, Princess Vicky Hasstrup, noted that the prevailing poor transport infrastructure in Nigeria is affecting the economic performance and competitiveness of the port. 
 
She said the partnership became imperative given the persistent gridlock on the port access roads in Apapa, which has made cargo evacuation from the port difficult. 

Hasstrup said the initiative, which would be implemented in conjunction with Lianyungang Port of China, would facilitate the evacuation of cargo from the terminals through barges and also help promote mutual cooperation and exchange between Liayungang and the Lagos port.

Haastrup said, “We have been to Lianyungang Port at the invitation of Sinoma, and there, we signed a friendship agreement sometimes in July.

They also expressed their willingness to come to Nigerian port to see what ENL and other ports look like.
   
“This conference was organised to brainstorm on how to have a better operational logistics which is Sinoma’s core duty.

We know what it is getting in and out of Apapa and discharging of cargo because of the present traffic situation in the Apapa and its environs.

   
“So this afforded us the opportunity to brainstorm on what else can be done under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement other than road since their core business is logistics.
   
“Sinoma has told us they would want to bring barges that can evacuate cargo at the seaside in large volume.

The barges are the types that we have not seen in Nigeria that can take several hundreds of tons of cargo at once.”
   
The ENL Consortium boss emphasized the importance of deploying intermodal means of transportation at the port, noting that continuous reliance on the road is no longer feasible and should be discouraged.
 
“There has to be an investment in other modes of transportation other than road because already the roads are undergoing a lot of pressure because the roads in Nigeria are not built to withstand the kind of pressure that they are subjected to,” she said.

The General Manager, Sinoma Cargo, Li Zhanzhu, who spoke through an interpreter, said the firm has established good cooperate relationship with ENL Consortium and Josephdam Port Services, to handle several consignments shipped into Nigeria from China. 

He said from January 2018 till date, the firm has operated 12 batches of Lianyungang- Lagos logistics line, organised and transported more than 410,000 dead weight of general cargo and transported more 2,000 TEU of containers. 

The products, according to him, cover steel and templates, engineering equipment and tools.   

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