The 11th edition of the annual Ships & Ports Maritime Cup Competition – Maritime Cup 2019 – will begin in Lagos today with the defending champions, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) trading tackles with Lagos Channel Management (LCM).
The match is scheduled for 4pm today immediately after the opening ceremonies billed to start at 3pm, according to the tournament Coordinator, Mrs. Eucharia Udoaka.
All the matches in the two-week long tournament, which will run from October 15 to October 29, 2019, will be hosted at the newly renovated NPA Sports Ground, Bode Thomas, Surulere, Lagos.
The participating teams include NPA, LCM, ENL Consortium and Dangote Ports Operation in Group A and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT), Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL), and Josephdam Port Services (JPS) in Group B.
Three matches are scheduled to hold tomorrow (Wednesday October 16). The first match to be played at 9am will see Dangote Ports Operation take on ENL Consortium while NIMASA will take on ABTL at 1pm. The third match to be played tomorrow will be between TICT and Josephdam Port Services.
The NPA team, fondly called ‘Hadiza Warriors’, defeated NIMASA 4-1after a tension soaked match to lift the coveted trophy for the first time since the competition started in 2009.
Also, 2017 champions, the Nigeria Customs Service defeated the Nigerian Navy 4-0 to win the third place match.
A total of 62 goals were scored in the 2018 edition of the competition out of which Abubakar Mikaili of the Nigeria Customs Service scored seven to become the highest goal scorer.
Past winners of the Maritime Cup are Nigerian Navy (2009), Micura Services (2010), Customs (2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017), NAGAFF (2014), ANLCA (2015) and NPA (2018).
The 2019 Maritime Cup Competition is supported by NPA and Dangote Ports Operation.