Firm Unveils First Nigerian-owned Container Shipping Line

Esther Oluku 

Nigerian logistics firm, Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, has pioneered the first Nigerian-owned container shipping line with the acquisition and arrival of MV Ocean Dragon to the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos.

MV Ocean Dragon with IMO number 9508770 arrived Nigeria on July 1, 2025, marking a significant step in indigenous shipping development while creating an opportunity for Nigerians to actively participate on the global maritime business scene.

Speaking during the unveiling ceremony of the vessel which held at Five Star Terminal, Lagos, on Wednesday, the Vice Chairman, Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, Mrs Bernadine Eloka, explained that the acquisition of the vessel and the company’s expansion into container shipping is part of a broader vision to fill existing gaps in the country’s logistics value chain.

The vessel, she explained, will service the local Nigeria market and the African region offering direct connection to local and continental ports, cutting off delays previously experienced as a result of indirect transits and risks associated with road transportation.

“Instead of moving cargo containers by road from Lekki to Apapa, Tin Can, Onitsha, Port-Harcourt or Calabar, MV Ocean Dragon can easily hold 349 Twentyfoot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of those containers and take them easily to these locations directly within two days. The vessel is also meant to service African countries like Cotonou, Ghana, Sierra, Leone, even as far as Egypt and South Africa,” she remarked.

On her part, the Managing Director, Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, Ada Eloka, noted that through the acquisition, the firm aims to advance local capacity development and export Nigeria’s local content to the rest of the world.

“70 per cent of our crewmen are Nigerians. We had to fly them from Nigeria to China because we wanted to make sure that it was a Nigerian crew. I want it to be a Nigerian vessel run by Nigerians because Nigerians can do this. So yes, that is the plan and it is already in effect,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director Suncity Terminal Logistics Limited, a sister company to Clarion Shipping West Africa Limited, Mustafa Mohammed, speaking on the economic opportunities and cost savings the facility will afford indigenous shippers said that with Clarion’s strategic partnerships, exporters are set for an exciting new era of limitless possibilities.