The Port of Port Harcourt was the second largest port in Nigeria in the 1950s. In 1954, it cleared about $54 million worth of imports and exports, while the shipping facilities at Calabar cleared $11 million worth of goods.The region ,according to Willinks report to Queen of England(1958) has 98% igbo speaking people and accounts for much of the economic drive.Since the civil war ended the federal government has been reluctant to make the eastern regional ports functional as part of economic sabotage .
History was however made on 15th August 2020 when The Nigerian Ports Authority on Saturday announced the successful berthing in Onne Port, Rivers state, of the biggest container ship to ever call at any Nigerian port.
The Maerskline Stardelhorn vessel with Length overall of 300 metres, width of 48 metres was received at the Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT), at 1620 hours.
It has a capacity of 9,971(TEUs) and is a flagship from Singapore.
According to some reports, the ship was diverted to Port Harcourt to decongest the Lagos ports.
