APM Terminals’ West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in the Onne Oil & Gas Free Zone has taken delivery of six more state-of-the-art Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes (RTGs), bringing their total number to 14. The new units will further improve service delivery at the Onne Port and confirm WACT as eastern Nigeria’s best-equipped port terminal.
In August 2020, WACT had already received the 10,000 TEU Maersk Stadelhorn, the largest containership to evert berth at any Nigerian port. Also last year, APM Terminals had announced further investment of $100m in the terminal’s upgrade Phase 2 including the acquisition of three additional Mobile Harbour Cranes (bringing the total in operation to five), 20 Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes, three Reach Stackers, 13 terminal trucks and trailers and an empty container handler.
The development of WACT started in the mid-2000s in order to open up Nigeria’s eastern market, an under-served region due to its high-risk environment and piracy. The region’s trade infrastructure has considerably increased since then: in addition to WACT, the Philippines’ International Container Terminals Services, Inc. (ICTSI) recently opened the Onne Multipurpose Terminal (OMT) after upgrading and rehabilitating three unused berths at the port.