The federal government has said it is poised to provide the facilitation and advocacy required to grow vessel traffic to the Eastern ports in the country.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, disclosed this yesterday at the commissioning of 4.8 kilometers of road and marine craft at Onne Port, Rivers State.

Oyetola said deepening efficiencies and full capacity utilisation of the Eastern ports constitute one of the tools deployed to achieve the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assigned to the ministry under the Presidential Performance Bond.

The minister who expressed happiness that the Onne and Calabar Port Complexes have met the requirements of the International Organisation for Standardisation and are ISO certified said the newly commissioned mooring boats would further enhance the security and safety at the Eastern port.

According to him, providing an enabling environment for investors to patronise the Eastern ports is the top priority of the ministry.

He said the road infrastructure constructed by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the mooring boats are another testament to the commitment of the Ministry to maximise the entire gamut of opportunities conferred by maritime endowments, in line with the directives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Oyetola said the mooring boats will be used for safety berth and unberth vessels calling at various pilotage districts to further enhance the security and safety of the nation’s maritime space.

The minister, however, assured stakeholders that he would continue to approve initiatives that would further enhance the performance of the seaports.

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, stated that the newly constructed road and deployment of the marine craft will positively impact cargo dwell time and win back huge revenues hitherto lost to terminal operators’ inability to meet their performance targets on account of inaccessibility to their lease areas due to bad road.

According to the NPA boss, the vast expanse of reclaimed land already leased for port development is a link to growth in new business opportunities and increased revenue for the national economy.

He said the road which stretches over a total of 4.8 Kilometres, covering two container terminals and caters to almost 1,000 trucks daily is indicative of the authority’s positioning for growth, competitiveness and future-readiness.