Onne port gets 15 new gantry cranes to boost operations

The Onne ports in Rivers State has been equipped with 15 new Kone rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) to enhance service delivery at the seaport.

Already, the first batch of six RTGs has arrived at the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), terminal Onne, while the remaining ones are expected to arrive in earnest.

The Commercial Manager of WACT, Noah Sheriff, who confirmed this in a statement, said the concessionaire had commenced training operators on the highly technical cranes, which are the first in Nigeria’s eastern ports.

Sheriff said the deployment of the six new cranes “is the start of WACT’s transformation from the use of Reach Stackers to RTGs in the terminal, which will immediately increase our current import yard capacity.

“We are expecting a total of 15 RTGs. With the delivery of the first set of six, we expect nine more, which will be delivered later this year,” he said.

In addition to the new RTGs, Sheriff said WACT took delivery of eight new specialized terminal trucks last week to support the high incoming volumes.

He said the acquisition of the new cranes and terminal trucks is part of an ongoing $100 million investment, which is “aimed at significantly increasing the terminal capacity for the benefit of our landside customers in the Eastern part of the country.”

He said: “We envisage significant volume growth; hence we embarked on an ambitious terminal upgrade, which includes both yard expansion and equipment upgrade,”

The Managing Director of WACT, Aamir Mirza, said WACT has become one of the best-equipped container terminals in West Africa and has strategic plans for consistent improvement in every area of its operations.

“With our massive investment, WACT has established itself as the largest and most efficient container terminal in East Nigeria, creating thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities. We now receive large and gearless vessels that hitherto were only able to call at Lagos ports,” he said.