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By Steve Agbota
The Federal Government has disclosed plans to put strategies and checks in place to sanction vessels that contravene the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) sulfur regulations.
Sulphur regulations refer to the limits set on the amount of sulphur content in fuels which are used by ships and vehicles. The regulation has been in force globally since January 1, 2020.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, stated this on Monday at the arrival ceremony of CMA-CGM Scandola largest container vessel (LNG-powered) to berth in Nigeria.
Oyetola who was represented by the Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, said the present administration has taken concrete steps towards the procurement of necessary tools to enhance NPA’S capacity to test the sulphur content in ships.
“We will continue to support the NPA in its efforts at ensuring stakeholders’ compliance with the IMO Sulphur Regulation on Nigerian Waterways.
“The driver of this change is the need to minimize the air pollution created in the shipping industry by reducing the sulphur content of the fuels that ships use. So transition to the use of natural gas which is more environmentally friendly by vessels plying our waterways is a most welcome development,” he said.
He said that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is convinced that shipping has a pivotal role to play in global decarbonisation efforts.
“This is why I will like to seize this moment to commend the Management of the NPA compliance with the Ministerial directive to take cognizance of global energy transition in its port modernization project by deliberately factoring in measures that promote energy efficiency,” he stated.
“Apart from its distinctive feature of eco-friendliness, “Scandola” ranks amongst the largest container ships to be calling in West Africa with 15,000 TEUs.”
He pointed out that Lekki Deep Seaport’s natural depth of 16 meters added to its multifaceted efficiencies, state-of-the-art equipment and robust infrastructure which offers a capacity of up to 1.2 million TEUs in this phase 1 positions the port to serve as a mega trans-shipment hub, to Nigeria’s neighboring countries in the Gulf of Guinea and beyond.
“With shipping volumes promising to get higher, forward looking investments such as the one we are gathered here to celebrate will certainly have a big impact in the long run,” he added.
Also speaking, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the arrival of the vessel speaks to what this government is about and Nigeria’s readiness for business.
He added that the Lekki Free Port has put and placed Nigeria as one of the big movers of port transactions in the world.
“But more importantly for us in Lagos is to say to you that we are excited that these are exciting times for us. We believe we still have capacity for a lot more. The size of this country, the economy that we want to grow and the President has challenged us and said that by 2030, we want to be close to a $1 trillion economy.
“We are not going to achieve that by just a statement. We are going to achieve that by the work and the shared determination that all of us in this room, in different sectors and different spheres of endeavor put together,” he said.
On his part, the Managing Director of Lekki Deep Seaport, Du Rougang, said that the berthing of the vessel is creating a new plan for Nigeria’s ports.
“We want to ensure that Lekki Port plays a major role in the nation’s maritime industry, “ he said.
The Managing Director of CMA-CGM Nigeria Shipping Limited, Hinelder Ferreira, said the container ship, which is a 366 meter length overall (LOA) with capacity for 15,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) ranks amongst the first largest LNG -powered vessel to be calling in West Africa.
He said by deploying these biomethane and e-methane ready container ships, the CMA CGM group demonstrates once again its commitment to support West Africa’s supply chains by increasing deployed capacity, as well as the group’s role as a pioneer to decarbonise shipping and logistics’ in the region and worldwide.
Ferreira stressed that the vessel currently runs on LNG, improving air quality by avoiding up to 99 per cent of sulphur emission, 92 per cent of nitrogen oxide emission and 91 per cent of particulate matter, noting that once supply is available, these ships will be capable of using Bio LNG (liquefied biomethane produced from biowaste), and e-methane (synthetic-methane produced from decarbonized hydrogen), a source of carbon-neutral fuel.
He said the group invested close to $15 billion in decarbonising its fleet and is currently operating 35 dual-fuel LNG-powered containerships, and will have almost 120 vessels capable of being powered by decarbonised fuels by 2028.
He added that following the call in Nigeria, the CMA CGM SCANDOLA will continue its voyage and sail to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
