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CEO Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Dr. Abubakar Dutsoho in a handshake with the vice -president Clarion Shipping West Africa Ltd and Frederick Klinke Country Manager APMT Nigeria during the girl of “MV Ocean Dragon” before Nigerian owned by One Port Complex on Thursday 31 July, 2025.
Increases for the blue economy: the local owned ship of the NPA to guide the regional trade and the port reform
Lagos (Core reporter) The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in what is seen as a push to the blue economy is throwing its weight behind the ships of local ownership to guide the regional trade and the port reform.
However, the CEO of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dutsoho, reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to advance the indigenous property of shipping ships, in line with the “Nigeria First” policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.
Dutsoho made him known during the ceremonial called the girl of MV Ocean Dragon, an entirely Nigerian Nigerian container ship, at the western African container terminal (Wact) in the port of ominous.
Owned by Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, the Ocean MV dragon boasts a capacity of 349 equivalent units of twenty feet (teu) and should strengthen coastal shipment through the Eastern corridor of Nigeria, from alto to Calabar-In conformity with the law on cabotage and in support of the increase in naval traffic and indigenous maritime operations.
“In addition to the high load capacity of the ship and the distinctive characteristics, the fact that MV Ocean Dragon is totally Nigerian underlines our alignment with the renewed agenda of the hope of President Tinubu and the commitment of the NPA in the development of local content,” said Dantoho.
He also stressed that the ship’s ability to transport thousands of gross tons recorded (GRT) through African destinations in a few days reflects Nigeria’s dedication to international maritime standards, in particular the International Association for Ports and Harbors (IAPH) Directives on multimodalistic and port-hinterland connectivity.
“This development completes the logic behind the NPA export processing terminals (EPT), designed to connect local producers deep in the hinterland with global markets efficiently,” he added.
Dutsoho also highlighted the ongoing reforms and the modernization project of the port of the NPA, observing that they aim to maintain the enabling environment that has helped Nigeria to achieve commercial surpus costs in recent years.
He connected the launch of the ship with the recent positive trends in the Nigerian maritime trade: “With the increase in the volumes of Trasbordo to the Lekki Deep Seaport and an increase in external trade reported by the Nigerian economic top group (Nesg) in 2025, the arrival of MV Ocean Dragon reports an entrepreneurial climate in Nigeria.”
He assured the international entrepreneurial community of continuous support under the guidance of the Minister of the Navy and the Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, describing it as “easy to investors” and essential to promote the ease of doing business and drawing on the rich maritime potential of Nigeria.
The Ocean MV dragon will operate along the local and regional marine routes, offering an economic alternative to road transport. Its scheduled destinations include ports in Nigeria, Benin Repubblica, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Egypt and South Africa.
Basic journalists report that the deployment of the ship should contribute significantly to the push of Nigeria for efficient shipments to short sea, regional commercial integration and sustainable investments in the blue economy.
