The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) yesterday took delivery of four newly acquired 60 tons buller-pull tug boats.
The ships with state of the art fully computerized engines were constructed in Holland, according to NPA Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman.
The tugs, which were immediately deployed to the Lagos waters, bring to the total number of tugs currently in the inventory of NPA to nine.
Addressing journalists at the end of the commissioning of the vessels, Usman said the tugs, MT DAURA, MT UROMI, MT UBIMA and MT MAJIYA are currently among the strongest and the best in their class in the world.
She said that each comes with twin fire fighting pumps with a reach of above 400 metres per hour of water and foam.
She said: “The thugs are the latest model and are very powerful with 60 tons buller-pull each and are currently the largest in the country. Ones they are commissioned they will be deployed to work in the Lagos waters.”
Usman said the NPA intends to procure more vessels and tug boats to further enhance the revenue drive of the Federal Government.
“Lots of foreign vessels will now have the confidence to come into Nigeria. They now know that we have the towage and the capacity to meet with their demand.
We purchase the four vessels at the rate of NPA $30m.”
She said a foreign captain and his crew are in Nigeria to train Nigerians on how to handle the vessels, stressing that in a couple of months all the tugs would be manned by Nigerian crew.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, represented by the Agency’s Executive Director, Finance and Admin, Alhaji Bashir Jamoh, appreciated the NPA MD on the huge investment on infrastructure since she assumed of office.
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