By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Oct. 21, GNA – Mr Mohamed Samara, Chief Executive Officer of the Meridian Ports Services (MPS) operators of Terminal Three at the Tema Port has disclosed that MPS has been ascribed as the transhipment hub.
He said there was a high trade potential in the Sub-Saharan Region, adding that MPS was poised to facilitate the trade for economic and social gains in the area.
Briefing a delegation of senior leadership team of Ocean Network Express (ONE Ghana) who paid a working visit to the terminal, he said MPA had seen steady growth in transhipment volumes since it was named as a transhipment hub in the region and superior technologies were deployed in the terminal to promote the Tema Port as a Trade Hub.
He also said, his outfit had been keen on cutting down avoidable costs for the shipping lines and consignees from the beginning, adding that in line with that, they ensured costs such as the congestion surcharges was removed.
The MPS CEO said they deployed a robust berthing window agreement that allowed shipping lines the predictability, productivity, and reliability of being attended to when the vessels arrive.
He said with such added value at Terminal three, MPS secured considerable transhipment volume from and to Nigeria, Ivory Coast as well as primarily the trade between South America and the Far East.
Mr Samara was hopeful that although global trade might have taken a dip, it was expected that there would be a rise in the trade in the coming months.
Mr. Curtiss Dakpogan, the Chief Operations Officer of MPS, on his part said the terminal three operators thrived on guaranteeing the safety and security of cargo with the use of high-level technology that automatically identifies and tracks every container within the facility, adding that they were committed to building up its capacity.
“Our current yard capacity is hovering around 2million TEUS, in the future, we are looking forward to about 3.3 million TEUS and so we are working on the yard space behind the 4th berth to accommodate the new cranes that we have on order,” he stated.
Mr. Michael Durant Cooper, the Managing Director of ONE Ghana who led the delegation to MPS said the visit was motivated by the development of its strategic plan for the next few years.
Mr Cooper said they recognized the key role of MPS terminal three within the sub-region and therefore their resolve to engage the management of MPS to determine the business decisions that could be made to benefit both parties and expand their network.
GNA