Shipping Companies Should Take Advantage of Lekki Port to Repatriate 20,000 Empty Containers At Once—James Kitiya

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Chief Executive Officer of Kiti Energy Consulting Limited, a frontline crane and equipment operations company, has encouraged shipping companies to take advantage of the $1.5billion Lekki Port to evacuate empty containers from Lagos ports.

Kiti Energy Consulting Limited is a company that specialises in buying and selling of heavy duty cranes for port operations, hiring, leasing and training of operators for handling these equipment.

Kitiya in an exclusive chat with DAILY TREND said that the Lekki Port and it’s seven brand new empty container handlers, has capacity to repatriate 20,000 empty containers at once.

Kitiya further allayed stakeholders and residents fears of traffic gridlock along Lekki Port corridor, saying that cargoes are being moved majorly by barges.

“In my experience, I don’t think the existing terminal operators should be scared of Lekki Port, because the port itself needs networking.

“The whole empty containers in Lagos are now seating on trucks, when you move around, you see that there is no space to put these empty containers

“At Lekki Port today, they have seven brand new empty container handlers, these are for pushing of empty containers, Lekki Port can receive 20,000 empty containers and take it out of Nigeria, all these empty containers you see lying around can be evacuated through that port

“So, it is a plus for shipping companies. If you go to Tin Can Port, you will discover that because of export cargoes, none of the terminal operators wants to receive empty containers into their facilities, they prefer to receive export containers.

“Since Lekki Port resumed, at least two or three vessels have sailed out, and when they leave, they go with empty containers. So, the issue of traffic gridlock along Lekki Port axis is not true.

“There is an arrangement to move cargoes by barges from the port, we have a barge right now which is one of the biggest in Lagos, it is at Tedi waters, that barge can take 450 loaded containers. These are the people that Lekki Port wants to engage, as for traffic on the roads, there is no issues there” he said

DAILY TREND reports that Kiti Energy Consulting Limited recently flagged off it’s Logistics Arm with acquisition of new buses for easy movement of equipment and spare parts around Nigerian seaport terminals and airports.

Speaking on this new innovation, Kitiya said “Our bus is strictly for Port uses and aviation, only the airport and seaport is where it is used. From here, we would escalate to Ghana, we are already established our branch at Cotonou Port.

Speaking on what inspired the new department he said “When we got an offer from Lekki Deep Seaport, we are one of their best consultants on equipment, they gave us a contract of three months to supply equipment within the port, pending when their new equipment would arrive, we did it successfully and our contract ended last two months.
After that, they gave us another one month when their crane came into the port” he concluded