The Calabar seaport, Cross River State, has shipped 7,000 metric tonnes of cocoa to the United States of America, USA.
The export was handled from the Ecomarine Terminals.
At the load-out ceremony in Calabar, Governor Ben Ayade, implored the Federal Government to implement the agreement reached with the concessionaires on dredging of the Calabar port.
Ayade,who was represented by the Commissioner for Commerce, Mrs. Rosemary Archibong, laudedStarlink Global and Ideal Limited, forchoosing to convey its cargo through the Calabar Port, adding that it was a value addition to the Ecomarine Terminal and Cross River State to have a vessel departing to the USA.
He stated: “Calabar Port is very strategic to the economic empowerment of Nigerians in view of the employment opportunities here. All we are appealing for now, is for the Federal Government to expedite the dredging of the Calabar channel to really kick-start economic activities”.
Hadiza Bala Usman, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, described the development as a sign of better things for the nation and urged other shippers to emulate Starlink.
Usman, who was represented by the Port Manager, NPA Calabar, Marie Asan,saidthe authority was pursuing Federal Government’s economic recovery agenda through consistent improvement on service delivery at the nation’s seaports, especially the eastern ports.
She stated that Calabar Port did not fall short of revenue generation, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, an indication she attributed to service improvement.
She said“The Executive Management of NPA is pleased by this development , as it shows that the strategic measures put in place to make all the nation’s seaports viable and vibrant are beginning to produce positive outcome”.
She disclosed that the management had introduced an inclusive governance system which had “brought modest milestones to Calabar Port in the areas of wreck removals, stimulation of container traffic, attraction of flat-bottom vessel traffic, restoration of broken down crafts and more”.
In his remarks, Adeyemi Adeniji, the Managing Director of Starlink Global and Ideal Limited, disclosed that the cocoa beans were sourced from Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State which he saidconstituted a factor in utilizing the Calabar Port.
Adeniji,who described the shipping of non-oil products from the Calabar sea portto the United States of America as eventful, explained that :“in our search for a solution to different dimensional problems facing export in Nigeria, we opened a direct export from Calabar to the United States of America using a chartered vessel.
