Chief Commercial Officer of APM Terminals Apapa Limited, Mr. Neil Fletcher has said that his company has transformed the Apapa Container Terminal into a world class facility. Mr. Fletcher told delegates at the 12th Intermodal Conference and Exhibition held in Lagos last week that the leading terminal operator is a multi-user facility having 10 shipping lines calling at its terminal.
He said the terminal is fully ISPS compliant and is the first container terminal to introduce RTGs (Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes) operations in Nigeria.
Fletcher said when APM Terminals took over operation of the Apapa container terminal in 2006, vessel waiting time was up to 30 days while the container yard had no markings, was waterlogged and filled with debris. He also said that the general condition of equipment at the terminal pre-concession was generally poor while buildings within the terminal were obstructing consolidated stacking and reducing capacity.
He also told his audience that pedestrian traffic within the yard was high with incidences of pilferage and container losses, while the yard area was occupied by moveable assets and sitting tenants.
He said eight years into the port concession, the condition of the terminal has been turned around by APM Terminals with average berth productivity elevated to 30 moves per hour; average crane productivity at 15 moves per hour and monthly average throughput at 50,000 TEUs.
He said the throughput capacity of the terminal is now one million TEUs while average vessel waiting time is less than one day.
Also speaking earlier at a different forum , Fletcher said APM Terminals has invested over USD220 million on equipment, infrastructural development, process automation, employee training and safety at the terminal.
