Lekki Seaport to recieve 15-day direct shipment from Northern Europe
In an announcement by CMA CGM, the global shipping giant, has commenced a global shipping service connecting Nigerian importers and others in West Africa with Northern Europe through Lekki port. The newly launched KORA EXPRESS service as annouced by the shipping giant on Wednesday, 15th July, is designed to accelerate the movement of cargo between the two regions, and to strengthen the connectivity of the port to international trade routes.
The shipping line is to deploy 4,200 twenty- foot equivalent unites (TEUs) of Nigerian cargo vessels to make direct weekly calls at Lekki port as part of the rotation connecting major ports in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands with key West African destinations.
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) 2026 Operational Performance Report, states that the Lekki deep seaport continues to experience a surge in cargo traffic, handling 40.6 per cent of the country’s total cargo throughput, leading other ports in the country.
The Lekki Deep Seaport, according to its management, operates at close to 50 per cent of its trade capacity, with steady month-on-month growth in container throughput since September 2025.
The shipping giant expects the service to reduce transit times to Nigeria, Ghana and the Benin Republic to just 15 days while mproving schedule reliability and providing Nigerian importers and exporters with direct and faster access to European markets.
The weekly port rotation will include Southampton, Vlissingen, Antwerp, Tanger Med, Algeciras, Tema, Lekki, Cotonou and Dakar, positioning Lekki Port among the region’s strategic channels for international trade.
The shipping giant also added that service would also improve access to international markets through its transshipment hubs at Tanger Med in Morocco and Algeciras in Spain,providing seamless connections between customers and its global network.
Regarding the restructuring of its regional network, the company announced the repositioning of its EURAF 5 service to focus exclusively on the southern West African corridor, to deliver direct calls at Cameroon, Gabon, Congo and Angola.The EURAF 5 rotation will also cover Tanger Med, Nouakchott, Kribi, Libreville, Pointe Noire and Luanda, providing dedicated coverage for the West Africa South Range.
