Spectators at the ongoing 9th edition of the SHIPS & PORTS Annual Maritime Cup competition seem mesmerized at the quality of displays on the field of play that they could not help but cheer loudly at the curtain raiser on Thursday when Henry Nwosu opened scoring for the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) in the match between the Ports Landlord and the defending champions, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The match played at the NPA Sports Ground, Surulere, Lagos, ended in a 2-2 draw.
NPA striker, Henry Nwosu proved his mettle as he netted the first goal for NPA in the 23rd minute of the match while Abubakar Musa equalized for the Customs team in the 63rd minute. The match became tense and very emotional as both teams worked tirelessly to get the all-important winning goal. Customs’ Sani Bala got a true pass and scored the second goal for his side in the 84th minute to the delight of Customs fans watching.
However, Bashiru Yusuf will later draw levels through a penalty having been fowled in the 18-yard box. He later scored the resultant penalty to draw the match in the 89th minute and earned NPA a valuable point.
The Match between African Circle and TICT ended 3-0 in favour of TICT.
The second match, which was between Nigerian Navy and Josephdam ended 2-0 in favour of Navy. Icili Emmanuel and Dick Precious scored for the Navy side in the 20th and 59th minute of the match.
The Maritime Cup Competition organized by SHIPS AND PORTS, Publishers of SHIPS AND PORTS DAILY Newspaper kicked off on Monday at the Legacy Pitch, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos with the opening match between defending champions Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Navy also ending in a 2-2 draw.
Coordinator of the programme, Eucharia Udoaka, said the competition was designed to create a platform for maritime practitioners to compete in a friendly atmosphere and also network among themselves.
She noted that matches have been devoid of tensions and bitter rivalry associated with most football competitions because of proper organisation.
The opening ceremony and the opening match was witnessed by a mammoth crowd and hordes of maritime industry operators which include the Chairman of Shipowners Forum, Barrister (Mrs.) Margaret Onyema-Orakwusi; representative of the Chief Executive Officer of SIfax Group, Mr. Muyiwa Akande; representative of Customs Zonal Co-ordinator, Zone A, Comptroller Mohammed Ja’afar Tanko,  Mr. Jahan Ludovic of TICT and representative of the Chief of Naval Staff, Navy Captain Friday Mailafiya, among others.
The ceremonial kick off ceremony was performed by the Managing Director of Dangote Ports Operation, Captain Joshua Oyewumi.
Past winners of the competition include Nigerian Navy (2009); Micura Stevedoring Services (2010); Nigeria Customs Service (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (2014) and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (2015).
The 2017 Maritime Cup Competition is supported by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT), African Circle Pollution Management Services and Morbod Group.

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