Monrovia — FrontPageAfrica has gathered that a rice vessel chartered by the Supplying West Africa Traders (SWAT), through the intervention of APM Terminals Liberia, has docked at the Free Port of Monrovia to bring in supplies of rice for the Liberian market.
The vessel, the NV Ken Star, according to our reporter, brought in 23,000 metric tonnes of rice equivalent to approximately a million bags of rice.
This, according to some business tycoons, will significantly alleviate the ongoing scarcity of rice within sections of the Liberian market.
One businessman who was seen at the Freeport of Monrovia in search of rice to purchase for onward sale, Enerst Mcbourough noted that the development is timely because it demonstrates APM Terminals Liberia's ability to adjust its operations to respond to market demands and the exigencies of the time even in the face of inevitable difficulties.
FPA also observed that with the experienced maneuvering of the company's marine staff, the room was made to accommodate this vessel despite the high water level challenges.
Head of Operations at APM Terminals Liberia Etienne Christopher Saint-Jean who explained this development said the company had to respond to the current challenges.
He praised the highly skilled marine pilots and the entire operations team for a successful job.
"This is a vessel that ordinarily our ongoing dredging activities would not allow us to host. However, we had to do this to respond to the current challenges.
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With our highly skilled marine pilots, we even went beyond the 2-meter space to accommodate a 5-meter space, and given our 600-meter Berth, this is some significant work that we are proud of" explained Mr. Saint-Jean.
With rice being Liberia's staple food, these past few months of rice shortage on the market have caused agitations with consumers and the buying public.
This development has received widespread attention from different government stakeholders including members of the House of Representatives who last month met the leadership of the rice importers association to deliberate on solutions.
With APM Terminals Liberia's announcement of milestone Cargo deliveries in September and the successful docking of this rice vessel, it is expected that more rice will be on the market to alleviate the situation.
