West Africa Container Terminal (WACT)-APM Terminals Nigeria has welcomed Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies as it launched its service at the terminal.
The launch of the new service was celebrated with a special ceremony at the WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria Onne port, marking the partnership with Hapag-Lloyd’s weekly shipping service, directly connecting East Nigeria to global trade routes.
This strategic alliance underscores the commitment of WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria’s commitment to expanding Nigeria’s maritime capabilities and solidifying its position as a vital gateway for international commerce. The new service will significantly enhance connectivity, offering increased vessel capacity, improved transit times, and greater schedule reliability for businesses operating in East Nigeria.
The CEO of APM Terminals Nigeria, Frederik Klinke, described the event as not a maiden call but the launch of Hapag-Lloyd as a shipping line in East Nigeria. He said the development is an important milestone and an indication of the strong partnership that APM Terminals has globally with Hapag-Lloyd.
“This is an important milestone in East Nigeria for building its potential. We at APM Terminals have a very strong belief in the East Nigerian market. We are very proud of the partnerships that we have with our shipping line customers, now, with Hapag Lloyd being among them, and our government partners as well as the customers that we serve in East Nigeria. What we are trying to do is to lift the East Nigerian market. There is a lot of trade potential that requires better logistic solutions.
“We have invested USD115 million in this terminal over the last year, and we have created a lot of capacity that we want to bring to this market to make it easier to trade and for the economy of this region to grow. Getting a new shipping line is an extremely important milestone because that means incremental growth. It means additional opportunities for shippers, and it means that there are new services that are available to the people – new goods and new export markets to explore,” Klinke stated.
He expressed his excitement about the investment in WACT, noting that it has attracted additional customers to the terminal — a development he described as “a vote of confidence.” He also praised the investment as resulting in “a state-of-the-art terminal equipped with the most modern technology.”
Also speaking, the managing director of WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria, Jeethu Jose, reiterated that the partnership in WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria underscores the growing trust and confidence that WACT is earning within the regional and global trade ecosystems. He also acknowledged the continued support of all the company’s stakeholders as pivotal to the company’s commitment to giving the customers the best-in-class service.
“Today is a remarkable day for us at WACT and, indeed, the APM Terminals Group, as we welcome our long-term customer, Hapag-Lloyd to Onne. This event is significant for many reasons; it underscores the growing trust and confidence that WACT is earning within both regional and global trade ecosystems. Secondly, it is sharp evidence that with the continued support of all our stakeholders, we are making good progress in our commitment to give our customers the best-in-class service and attract new opportunities to grow their businesses,” he said.
Speaking about the impact of Hapag Lloyd on the business, Jose said, “As a globally respected shipping line known for excellence and reliability, Hapag-Lloyd’s maiden presence in Eastern Nigeria, here at WACT will open new opportunities across the value chain, from our landside customers to regulators. Most importantly, it will further strengthen Nigeria’s maritime and blue economy by expanding global trade connectivity and enabling local businesses to flourish.”
The country managing director, Hapag-Lloyd, Himmat Ahlawat, described Nigeria as one of the most important markets while also reiterating that customer service is the biggest priority for the Hapag-Lloyd team.
He said, “We consider Nigeria as one of the most important markets, if not the most important, in Africa and Eastern Nigeria. Without calling Eastern Nigeria, our ambitions here will remain unfulfilled. In Hapag Lloyd, the biggest priority we have is customer service. If there are no customers and our customers are not happy, then we have no right to exist. So, our actual stated aim is to be the undisputed king of customer service. So that is something we should bring to the table because we use a variety of digital tools to help our customers, which the rest of the market has still not started using.
“Ninety-five per cent of our containers are tracked. We have a tracking device, which is a game changer in the industry, and this is very crucial anywhere in the world. As a European shipping line, we are very compliant, so for our esteemed government, guests, and leadership present here, one thing you can be assured of is that we will not cut corners over safety, security and compliance.”
The Port Manager of Onne Port, Raymond Abdulrahman, described the new service as one of the greatest milestones achieved by WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria.
“We have another achievement which I want to quantify as one of the greatest milestone achievements once more that has been done by WACT-APM Terminals Nigeria. We all know today that they have added a liner to the fleet of liners that are coming to Onne. This can be inferred by what they have put in place. The management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is happy to collaborate with WACT and with Hapag Lloyd for bringing in the liner to Onne,” Abdulrahman said.
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