APM Terminals’ West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) and the Ibeto Group have commenced a barging operation from Onne Port to Port Harcourt, marking a significant milestone in their recently formed partnership.
The inaugural barge call signifies the activation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between WACT and Ibeto Group in the first quarter of this year. The partnership is aimed at promoting strategic collaboration in barging of containers between WACT Onne and the Ibeto terminal in Port Harcourt.
Hinged on the customers’ desire for seamless clearance and delivery of their cargoes and removal of bottlenecks associated with logistics for both imports and exports, WACT and Ibeto aim to eliminate the hassles and associated costs and risks of trucking containers between Onne and Port Harcourt and to provide shippers the opportunity of accessing empty containers and stuffing export bound goods at Ibeto terminal while utilizing WACT’s newly commissioned Container Freight Station (CFS).
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the inaugural barge call in Onne Port, Rivers State recently, the Chief Executive Officer of APM Terminals, Nigeria, Frederik Klinke, described the development as a significant milestone in the history of WACT.
He said WACT’s MOU with Ibeto is the culmination of a process which have been ongoing for a couple of years where the group have been working with shipping line partners, as well as the Ibeto Group to develop a product that enhances the offering that exists in the terminal to enable customers choose between taking delivery of their containers through trucks or through barges, thereby bypassing the sometimes difficult road conditions.
“We are an infrastructure company, and we always invest for the long term. We are very happy with the partnership we have developed with Ibeto and expect it to be a long-term partnership,” Klinke said.
WACT Sales Manager, Chika Umeh, who described the ceremony as an “epoch-making event”, said the new product came out of the need to listen to the voice of customers and to expand the footprint of WACT.
“The aim is first to give the customers what they are asking for and what are they asking for? Proximity to their warehouse, cost efficiency, and the reason we picked Ibeto was because we saw the facility on ground and saw the APM Terminals spirit in the Chairman, the passion, the drive,’’ Umeh said.
Also speaking, WACT Operations Manager, Fanick Atchia said, “At APM Terminals, our purpose is to improve life for all and to find a way to bring the cargo closer to the customer, to bring the imports, exports, and empty containers closer to the customers.”
The Operations Manager of Ibeto Group, Cyril Obiora said the partnership was borne out of the need to serve the importing and exporting community best.
“It is a ground-breaking partnership, and we are happy to be there. People will now have jobs as it will be impactful in the community. It is a way of opening the industry in the maritime, the shipping, waterways because the inland waterways are very much underused. The road will be safer, and congestion eliminated by using the inland waterways,” he said.
The West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) is the first greenfield container terminal in Nigeria to be built under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The terminal is located within the Oil and Gas Free Zone in Onne Port, Rivers State. Over the years, it has grown to become the most efficient gateway to markets outside West Nigeria and it is a major gateway to East Nigeria.
The ceremony to mark the inaugural barge call was attended by many stakeholders including the board members of APM Terminals, WACT leadership team, Ibeto Group and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), among others.
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