The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, has lauded the management of MRS for its huge investment and workforce of about 2000 direct employees and half a million indirect workers.
Symington stated this when he paid a working visit to MRS depot/ jetty located at the heart of the Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos.
He was received by the chairman of the company, Alhaji Sayyu Dantata, who took him and his visiting team on a tour of the sprawling facility of the company which is currently undergoing massive expansion and upgrade.
In his remarks after touring the multilayered facility, Symington also praised the company for its vision, spread across the African continent and national presence, adding that the company should be commended for its diverse workforce that has led to its massive growth in record time.
“I am impressed with the quality of workforce and level of technology deployed in running this facility”, he said.
The ambassador further commended MRS for its partnership with global companies, with particular emphasis on US companies, even as he expressed confidence in the mutually beneficial business relationship.
In his own remarks, Dantata expressed surprise that the American Envoy took time out of his busy schedule to pay a visit to the MRS terminal.
He said, “We have been working quietly to rehabilitate and expand the jetty since the unfortunate barge explosion we had in 2013. We made a deliberate decision to rebuild our jetty to meet international standards.
Over the years, we have diligently put in all our time and overcome numerous challenges to get to this point. I am grateful that the ambassador found the time to appreciate us.
The vessel, MT LILA Victoria berthed at our jetty last week, with deadweight of 75,000mt, which is the first of its kind in any African port. Our achievement here is that we have put Tincan terminal in Nigeria into the international shipping arena for 80,000mt –120,000mt vessels calling a port within Africa.
“We are proud to announce this milestone achievement for this country. With our capability to berth vessels this size, we can conveniently save the country a minimum of about $2 million per voyage and this can be as much as $120 million per annum currently wasted due to ship to ship operations, shallow draft and delays. Imagine what we are going to save this country, especially in this time of forex challenge”.
Dantata described as unprecedented that a foreigner in the person of the US Ambassador came all the way to visit and appreciate the enormity and significance of the MRS jetty to the Nigerian economy, pledging to increase the scope of his investments in the country.
“I am further encouraged by the honour done to us by this visit and will continue to invest diligently in the country because Nigeria has been good to me”, he noted
Dantata thanked the former managing director of the Nigerian ports authority, Habibu Abdullahi who assisted his company with approvals and the new managing director, Hadiza Usman, who he said has continued to encourage MRS in upgrading and promoting Tincan island port in the global arena.
