Calabar Port Manager, Mr. Olumati Festus,
By Tina Ezin
Calabar Port Manager, Mr. Olumati Festus, has debunked an allegation of drought of container vessels in Calabar Port for the past 25 years.
Some publications in the media had recently credited the Port Manager with reports that that the Calabar Port has not received container vessels in the last 25 years.
But Festus in a refutal on Saturday in an interview with some journalists in Calabar, said on October 22, 2020, the Port received a container vessel called UML Veronica and has received several project cargoes that came with containers.
The Port Manager said they were also seriously working with huge liner vessels to come and pick cocoa products from Calabar Port.
“We have held meetings with Cocoa Producers Association, Calabar Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Commerce in the state to harmonised the process for the products to be shipped from Calabar Port.
“We are currently appealing for the Calabar Port channel to be dredged to about nine mitres to allow bigger vessels come into the port but whether this is done or not we are working hard to attract more container vessels that are flat bottom,” he said.
