Eight teams namely the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Josepdam Port Services (JPS), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigerian Navy have sailed into the quarter-finals of the ongoing Maritime Cup 2023 tournament.
Defending champions Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) last Tuesday became the first team to book a place in the quarterfinals of the tournament. In their third group match played in Surulere, Lagos, NPA defeated COSCO Shipping 3-0 to book the top spot in Group A with seven points.
The Koko Marines, as the NPA team is popularly called, had on October 24 defeated Nigerian Shippers’ Council 2-0 and played a 2-2 draw with Comet Shipping on October 27 to garner a total of seven points to lead Group A.
Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) also booked a quarterfinal ticket after defeating hard fighting Comet Shipping 1-0. NSC lost its opening match 0-2 to NPA on October 24 but defeated COSCO Shipping 2-1 on October 27 to come second in Group A with six points.
In Group B, NAGAFF emerged top of the table with six points after defeating Josepdam Port Services and debutants, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA). Josepdam came second with three points and losing one match to NAGAFF and defeating NIWA 6-0.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigeria’s largest container terminal, APM Terminals Apapa booked their quarterfinal tickets last Wednesday. Both NIMASA and APM Terminals Apapa qualified for the quarterfinals from Group C with nine points and six points respectively. This was after the two teams walked over ENL Consortium and Dynasty Shipping.
The Nigerian Navy and the Nigeria Customs Service also recorded emphatic victories in their last group matches on Thursday to book their place in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
In the last Group D matches played at the NPA Sports Ground, Surulere, Lagos, Customs defeated new entrants Trucks Transit Parks (TTP) 3-0 to qualify for the quarterfinals. The Customs team finished on top of Group D with the maximum nine points and a goal difference of +9.
Nigerian Navy’s Admiralty FC, on the other hand, defeated stevedoring company Blueche Lomado 5-1 to book a quarterfinal ticket. With the victory, Navy ended in the second place in Group D with seven points and a goal difference of +11.
In the quarterfinal matches scheduled to be played today, Group A leader Nigerian Ports Authority will trade tackles with Group B runner up Josepdam Ports Services while Group B leader NAGAFF will battle Group A runner up Nigerian Shippers Council.
Also, Group C winner NIMASA will confront Group D runner up Nigerian Navy while Group D winner Nigeria Customs will take on APM Terminals Apapa for a place in the semi-finals.
