The former Head of Interim Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, at the weekend, scored the operations of the AP Moeller Terminals (APMT) Apapa, high, noting that the new concessionaire had invested over N28 billion within five years in the terminals and simultaneously doubled output from 20, 000 TEUs to 42,000 TEUs.Chief Shonekan, who is also the APMT Chairman, made the observation in Lagos on the occasion of the APMTs fifth year anniversary , marked at the companys facility in Apapa, and coinciding with the official commissioning of the terminals newly-built administrative building.Commending the terminals for judiciously expending about $180 million on civil works, equipment and upgrading of the terminal, he observed that the company had also been able to significantly reduce, vessels waiting time from over 70 days to 24 day, since 2006 when it took over operations from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).Today, (last Friday) we are here to commission this new administrative office building as part of the expansion of the container terminal. The office will enable us to improve our operations. It will also enable us to have more space outside for temporary stacking of customers containers.As a global leader in port terminal management, we have standards that we must maintain in our operations. This is why we are always engaged in one activity or the other to improve our operations and make delivery of cargo easier for our customers. For example, a few years ago, we installed new heavy duty rubber tyred gantry cranes to improve on our services and give our customers more satisfaction. We also improved the turnaround of vessels that were patronising our terminal, Shonekan said, adding that the company, in spite of the challenging operating environment, had remained a pacesetter to other concessionaires in the dogged vision by improving not only shipping and port terminal activities, but also port management and cargo delivery in the country.Speaking in the same vein, APMT Managing Director, Mr. Dallas Hampton, credited the terminals glowing achievements to the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, particularly, the employees of the company, assuring that the management on its side would continue to improve on human capacity development in order to improve port management activities and give more satisfaction to its numerous customers.Some of the guests and stakeholders who witnessed the occasion included Managing Director of Mearsk Nigeria Limited, Mr. David Skov; representative of the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mr. Sunny Nwobi; Chairperson, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and Executive Vice Chairman of ENL Consortium, Princess Vicky Haastrup; representative of the Port Manager, Lagos Port Complex Apapa, Hajiya Ali Ibrahim; Zonal Coordinator, Zone A Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Olufemi Taylor and Area Controller, Apapa Area one Command, NCS, Comptroller Suleiman Idris.
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