By Evelyn Usman

Mercury Maritime Concession Company ,MMCC has begun the construction of a $50 billion deep seaport industrial project at Escravos, Delta State ,with a view to decongesting the Lagos ports as well as creating job employment.

Already, the infrastructure development company said it had secured 31 ,000 hectares of land in Gbamaturu, Delta State , to build a gas plant , nature park and an airport, as part of the project .

Chairman of the MMCC , Rear Admiral Andrew Okoja (rtd) made the disclosure after a tour of his exhibition stand by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice admiral Awwal Gambo, at the occasion of the World Hydrography Day 2022, held at the Naval Dockyard Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos.

He explained the multi billion naira project would be delivered between 20224 and 2025 and that it would capture about 70 percent of the geographical space of the country.

Explaining, he said, “ Our Escravos Seaport Industrial Project comprises a deep seaport and several other mega projects; there is a refinery, a gas plant, there is a Free trade Zone, there is a nature park as well as an airport. The contract sum is about $50billion and we have just started with the deep seaport and the connectivity.

“This Port is on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis like the Lagos Deep Seaport, and the estimated time of delivering the port is between 2024 and 2025. This project is MMCC-driven and we have about 25 foreign and local consultants and partners running this project. It is being put together by the Port of Antwerp International, the second-largest port in Europe; apart from Rotterdam Port”.

The value of the port, according to him, would be determined by the volume of cargo flow, adding that the company would also take care of marine connectivity, road connectivity and an electricity rail which he said would be the first of its kind in Nigeria.

He explained that “From the port, for instance, the marine connectivity goes from Escravos port to the River Niger and up to Onitsha. From Onitsha, the second phase goes up to Lokoja. The first phase is going to be about 350km from the port to Onitsha, then from Onitsha to Lokoja is about 200km”.

He disclosed that the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Suez Canal Authority of Egypt, adding that “this connectivity is going to be concessioned and it is being discussed with the Ministry of Transport and the concession is for between 50 and 75 years.”

He said the second connectivity would be the rail connectivity, which would connect the Port to Warri and from Warri, to Itakpe and Ajaokuta, while the third phase would be a direct route from Escravos sea port to join the Warri-Sapele Road, around the Koko junction.

In addition, Okoja disclosed that MMCC would be taking the Escravos Port to Warri segment which distance is about 47 km .

He said, “We have got the approval from the federal government to build the port and that is why we mobilize all these advisors and partners. We have also got the concession to use 31000 hectares of land in Delta.

“ We are also concessioning it for another 50 years and we are going to be tolling. With this, we have the flow of cargo going in and out and we estimate covering 70 per cent geographical spread.

“So any cargo coming by land and air would flow in. And the value of a port is determined by the flow, how busy it is. It is expected that on completion and take-off of the project, the Lagos ports would be decongested, while thousands of jobs would be created in the sector”, Okoja asserted.