STORY: Chinese-built deepwater port in Nigeria welcomes largest-ever container vessel 
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 29, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 31, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:21
LOCATION: LAGOS, Nigeria
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of CMA CGM Scandola arriving at the Lekki Deep Sea Port
2. various of the welcoming event
3. SOUNDBITE (English): BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU, Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria
3. various of the Lekki Deep Sea Port (file)

STORYLINE:

The Chinese-built Lekki Deep Sea Port, the first of its kind in Nigeria, received Monday the largest container vessel that has ever docked in the country, marking a milestone for Nigeria's maritime trade.

The container ship received by the Lekki Deep Sea Port is a liquefied natural gas-powered vessel with a capacity of 14,812 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), setting a new size record while also highlighting the maritime facility's capacity to handle vessels of such magnitude.

SOUNDBITE (English): BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU, Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria
"It is something that we truly, really need to roll out drums and be proud of, because of what that is about. It's about indeed we are putting the Lekki free port, we're putting the Lagos, we're putting Nigeria into the world's global logistics marine business. Given the size of the vessels that we can receive, given the size of the business that can come to our community, the Lekki free port, and the Lekki port itself, have put and enshrined in our name as one of the big movers of port transactions in the world."

The Lekki port is a collaborative commercial project between China, Nigeria, and France. Constructed by the China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd., it is the first deep seaport in Nigeria and one of the biggest in West Africa. Commencing operation in Jan. 2023, it is designed to handle 1.2 million standard containers annually.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Lagos, Nigeria.
(XHTV)