NPA: Despite collapsed breakwaters, Warri port safely berthing vessels

By Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says measures are in place to ensure vessels berth safely at Warri port.

In a statement on Sunday, Mohammed Bello-Koko, NPA managing director, said ship berthing operations have been possible despite the urgent need for reconstruction of breakwaters at the pilotage district of the port.

Breakwaters are barriers built in the sea to protect the harbour from the force of waves.

Bello-Koko said although the Escravos breakwaters constructed to prevent the siltation of the Warri channels had collapsed decades ago, the authority has concluded the survey and mapping of the channel.

“NPA is at conclusive stages of securing relevant approvals for the best financing option to fund its reconstruction,” Bello-Koko said.

“The NPA has put mitigants in place to ensure safe berthing of legally operating vessels in the spirit of trade facilitation.”

The NPA boss said the agency had ensured zero incidence of vessels running aground through up-to-date local and international training, simulation and manoeuvrability competence building of the highly experienced pilots.

He added that NPA had enabled the safe berthing of inbound vessels MT Zonda and MT Stellar and outbound vessel MT Duke, MT Vardar and MT Igbinosa, with six vessels at anchorage outbound and inbound for Bonny Island, Koko and Escravos on July 14.

Bello-Koko said the agency had procured and installed adequate buoys for Warri, realigned the entrance buoys, docked and reclassified vessels.

“The occasional reported incidents of vessels running aground cannot impede the channel as they are vessels operating illegally without NPA marine pilots onboard,” he said.

“The vessels ran aground only because they veered off the channel and safety-marked areas due to incompetence.

“To enhance its domain awareness capability to detect and frontally keep illegal vessels at bay, the authority recently awarded consultancy for the installation of vessel traffic services (VTS) across all its port locations.

“The first phase is already completed.”

Bello-Koko, therefore, assured all stakeholders doing business legally in the Warri port of navigational safety.

“We are working assiduously under the guidance of the ministry of transportation and federal government to sustainably and comprehensively address the challenges of all Delta ports,” he said.

“We have put measures in place to ensure nothing impedes business continuity for all those operating within our safety and security rules.”