The Meridian Ports Services (MPS) Terminal 3, has commenced a new express service with the historical arrival of a 366-meter-long container ship.

The container ship Maersk Edirne, called at the Tema Port was historical because it was the first port of call for the 13,676 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) in West Africa.

The vessel, one of 13 similar-sized ships deployed on the updated Far East-West Africa Service, journeyed through major hub ports in China and Southeast Asia in under 20 days.

The deployment of the vessels is to deliver better connectivity and quicker transit times.

Mr. Razak Ngula, the Managing Director of Maersk Ghana Limited, who led some stakeholders to tour the vessel, expressed his outfit’s excitement to bring the express service to the doorstep of customers at a reduced transit time.

Mr. Ngula said they want to see the corridor grow each year, stating that in 2023, the corridor grew by 23 percent into West Africa, and expected that the calling of the vessel would inject the needed capacity to carry the cargo needed into West Africa.

He said the move gave an indication of the kind of infrastructure the Tema Port had, to receive such big vessels, compared to the infrastructural constraints in other parts of West Africa.

Mr. Mohammed Samara, the Chief Executive Officer of MPS, said this would not only give shorter transit time in the logistics supply chain but also marginal reductions in freight rates that would be enjoyed by international traders due to the direct service.

Mr Samara said MPS was able to provide this service due to the massive investment made into the port facility at Terminal 3, saying they have deployed eight cranes on board the ship alone.

“Not many ports in West Africa have eight cranes, let alone be able to deploy eight cranes on one ship; the infrastructure that we have built over here is capable of taking such sized vessels and even bigger,” he said, adding that MPS has the draft and is connected directly to the Atlantic Ocean.

He revealed that other shipping lines have also already engaged MPS to explore the possibility of deploying similar services through the Port of Tema; therefore, the

transshipment opportunities look bright for the Port, which he said was living up to its vision of becoming the leading container hub of the subregion.

Ms Eva Kwarteng, the Import and Export Manager at Nestlé Ghana Limited, a major customer of Maersk, said having the vessel come directly from the Far East to Tema meant her outfit would have its materials available on time for timely production of their products.

Ms Kwarteng stated that due to the short transshipment lead time, they would not have to keep so much stock at a time, as they could always get supplies as and when they needed materials.

She said that would also help reduce its stock holding in terms of the raw and packaging materials.