The Nigerian Ports Authority has awarded the contract to reconstruct and dredge the dilapidated Escravos Channel at Warri Port, Delta State, to China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) — the same contractor behind Lekki Deep Sea Port. NPA’s General Manager of Corporate and Strategic Communication, Ikechukwu Oyenmakara, confirmed the award, saying it’s one of roughly six projects under NPA’s broader Eastern Ports modernisation programme, which also includes work at Warri Port itself.
Why it matters: Vessels calling at Warri have long struggled with the channel’s shallow draught — a problem tracing back to a breakwater collapse roughly a decade ago that caused heavy siltation, cutting draft from about 7 metres to as little as 3 metres in places, and repeatedly running ships aground. Fixing it is a precondition for reviving cargo traffic at Warri and the wider Eastern Ports (Warri, Calabar, Onne), which have been overshadowed by Lagos and now Lekki.
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