Harbour masters
Maritime transport is a vital part of the logistics chain in West Africa and Sifax Group of Lagos, Nigeria, is positioning itself to play a part in the oil and gas driven boom that is taking place there. John O’Hanlon spoke to deputy managing director Captain Luc Deruyver.
Congestion is an on-off fact of life in the busy ports of West Africa. In general, conditions had improved over the first half of 2009 but at the time of writing, 52 ships were reported to be waiting to enter the port of Lagos. This is Nigeria’s busiest port, indeed one of the largest in the African continent, and like most large ports it comprises a large number of wharves and terminals. The container terminal is at Apapa, to the west of the network of creeks that cross the city, and this is where Sifax Group has had its headquarters since 1988. The company has also had a storage yard at Tin Can Island since 2002 and a port concession since 2006.
