The Government of Cross River State has flagged off the hydrographic, geophysical, and geotechnical survey for the Bakassi Deep Seaport Integrated Project that will pave the way for a $3.5 billion project.
The ceremony was held first, at the NNS Victory Base in Calabar and later on the high sea, around Parrot and Tomshot Islands, Cross River waterways, where the survey will take place.
The survey, which will provide critical data for the construction of the seaport, is expected to last four months and will be handled by the National Hydrographic Agency. The $3.5 billion valued project is expected to provide critical data on soil composition, water depth, and other geotechnical parameters needed for the construction of the port, ensuring its structural integrity and functionality.
Speaking during the flagging-off ceremony, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator Bassey Otu said the watershed event marks “a major milestone in the economic and social landscape of Cross River State and depicts the importance his administration places on the economic revitalization agenda.”
He noted that the flag-off exercise came on the heels of the recent stakeholder engagement, which outlined the project’s engagement path with communities in the project’s area of influence, specifically regulators, maritime security interests, host communities, media, financiers, investors, the public sector, civil society, youth groups, traditional institutions, and religious leaders, noting that the milestone event takes stakeholders closer to the realization of the Bakassi Deep Seaport dream.
He lauded the Nigerian Navy, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, the Federation’s Chief Hydrographer/CEO of the National Hydrographic Agency, the AFREXIMBANK, ARISE-IIP, and a host of others for their trust and partnership.
In his goodwill message, the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, represented by Rear Admiral Saheed Adeshina Akinwade, averred that the flag-off ceremony for the hydrographic geophysical, and geotechnical survey for the proposed Bakassi Deep Seaport marks the start of an ambitious and transformative project that has all the trappings to reshape the entire Gulf of Guinea.
High point of the event was the signing of the memorandum of cooperation between the Cross River State Government and the Nigerian Navy. The Governor inspected some of the state-of-the-art equipment that will be deployed by the Navy for the survey.
Sylvia Akpan, Government House Correspondent
