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A 3D scene at dusk: two tugs push the container ship MV Kola Meridian into Quay 3. Mooring lines go out, the crane booms lower over the deck, and the cranes start lifting containers onto the quay as you scroll.

NO.48

Cover story

  1. Four terminals, one gateContainers, bulk, vehicles and liquids at Lekki
  2. Who is alongside nowThe vessel board, every 15 minutes
  3. Find your box in ten secondsYard block, customs, charges
  4. Thirty one hoursHow a 9,200 TEU ship turns around
Tugs pushing her inAll fast at Quay 3Cranes working the baysYard filling, trucks rolling

She is in.
The quay never sleeps.

Scroll to watch MV Kola Meridian come into Lekki, tie up at Quay 3 and start discharging under our cranes.

Fig. 1MV Kola Meridian, 9,200 TEU, voyage 046W (example vessel)

To berth
2.40 nm
Status
Tugs pushing
Moves
0
Crane rate
Waiting
Updated from the COVORN apps (example data)
Vessels alongside6
Yard occupancy71%
Truck gate wait18 min
Next arrivalMV Osun Pearl, 18:30
Reefer plugs free214
01Letter

Letter from the managing director

A port should feel like a timetable, not a gamble.

For twenty years, importers in Lagos have planned around uncertainty: ships waiting at anchorage for days, trucks parked along the expressway, charges that seemed to grow while a box sat untouched. We built Aquila to remove the guesswork.

Our quays sit in 16.5 metres of water, so the largest ships calling at West Africa come straight alongside. Our yard is planned by software that knows where every box is and where it is going next. Our truck gate runs on appointments, so a driver who books a slot is through in under twenty minutes.

None of that matters unless you can see it. That is why the vessel board, container tracking, charges and truck slots are on this site, open to everyone, day and night. If something is late, you will know before you have to ask.

This issue explains how the port works, terminal by terminal, and how to use it well. We hope it saves you a trip, a call and a day of storage.

Smiling man in a blue suit in an office
Our leadership. Names in this demo are invented. Pictured, the deputy managing director, Mr Emeka Nwosu.
Large port cranes standing by the water
Quay 3 at first light. Fourteen ship to shore cranes work the container berths around the clock.
03By the numbers

The port in four numbers

Example figures for this demo, for the twelve months to October 2026.

16.5 mDepth alongside at every container berth
1.4mContainers handled, in TEU
31 hAverage turnaround for a 9,000 TEU ship
18 minAverage truck time from gate in to gate out
We measure ourselves in hours a ship waits and minutes a truck queues.
Mrs Adaeze Okonkwo-Bello, managing director
05Vessel boardUpdated every 15 minutes
Vessels at Aquila today, example data
VesselLineBerthArrived or dueStatus
MV Kola MeridianMeridian Atlantic LineQuay 3Mon 2 Nov, 01:10At berth
MV Benue StarOkun ShippingQuay 1Thu 5 Nov, 22:40At berth
MV Osun PearlGulf of Guinea ExpressQuay 2Fri 6 Nov, 18:30Arriving
MV Harmattan WindSahel Sea LinesQuay 4Wed 4 Nov, 12:00At berth
MV Lagoon CrestBight Feeder ServicesQuay 1Sat 7 Nov, 16:00At anchorage

Example vessels and lines for this demo. See the full board.

06The QuayStories from the port
Container ship being loaded by cranes
Feature, 7 min

Thirty one hours: turning a 9,200 TEU ship around

From the pilot boarding to the last lashing, the timetable behind one call.

Truck parked in front of stacked containers
Explainer, 5 min

Why the queue on the expressway got shorter

What happened when every truck needed an appointment.

In brief

Reefer bay R2 opens

Another 420 reefer plugs, for frozen fish, poultry and pharmaceuticals, with four checks a day.

In brief

Night gate discount

Slots from 22:00 to 05:00 now carry no surcharge and average a nine minute wait (example data).

Call our AI line, answered day and night in Nigerian English

It finds your container, checks a vessel, books a truck slot and passes you to a person when you need one.

+234 800 000 0158
07Letters

What customers write to us

Example letters for this demo.

Letter to the editor

Booked a 22:00 slot, gate out by 22:14. I did not believe it until the driver called me.

Ngozi, example client, clearing agent, Apapa

Letter to the editor

The tariff calculator gave me the exact storage figure the invoice later showed. That is rare.

Kunle, example client, importer, Ikeja

Letter to the editor

Our reefer boxes were plugged in before the paperwork reached my desk.

Hauwa, example client, frozen foods, Kano

Next

Your box is waiting. Let us bring it out.

Book a slot, pay the charges and the gate opens without stopping. Day or night.