The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) acquired a new tugboat to boost the efficiency of crucial maritime operations at the Port of Mombasa.
According to the KPA, acquisition of the tug, the MV Eugene, brings the ports fleet up to five and guarantees two to three simultaneous vessel movement at any given time, which translates to the optimal availability of four tugs whenever one is out of service.
The over US$10 million state-of-the-art tugboat is the first of its kind in East and Central Africa and will undertake the berthing and un-berthing of ships as well as provide fire suppression at sea and maritime pollution control both within and outside of the harbour.
Mombasa port’s general manager for Human Resources, Amani Komora, noted that this would be especially beneficial to the port as 90% of the vessels calling at Mombasa were post-Panamax sized, requiring at least two berths for berthing and un-berthing operations.
Christened Eugene, Azimuth Stern Driven (ASD) tug arrived at the Port of Mombasa on Monday after a 26-day journey from the Cheoy Lee Shipbuilders in China.