The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has acquired a Ksh1.9 billion tugboat for the Port of Mombasa from Turkey, meant to ease operations in the port.
In most cases, tugboats are used to tow or push barges and large ships, and even in rescue missions sometimes.
The new state-of-the-art tugboat RAstar 4200 Azimuth Stern Driven (ASD) christened Mwokozi II joins KPA fleet of tugboats to primarily offer salvage and harbour operations.
Read: Dongo Kundu Economic Zone: What are we waiting for?
In a statement on Monday, KPA said that the tugboat is equipped with excellent maneuverability and packing a hefty 120 tonnes of bollard pull.
The vessel with a length overall of 42 metres and a maximum draft of 7.2 metres will deliver enhanced towing and ship handling services for vessels stuck at sea or with mechanical problems.
The RAstar series was designed by Robert Allan Ltd, Canada’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering company. The RAstar series is a unique class of very high-performance ASD tug.
During the contract signing in 2020, Robert Allan Ltd.’s Contracts Manager Mr Oben Naki said that the new RAstar 4200 will be amongst the most powerful tugs Robert Allan Ltd has ever designed.
“Robert Allan Ltd. worked very closely with Kenya Ports Authority and Med Marine to maximize the operational flexibility and a level of safety and redundancy hard to achieve with a smaller vessel,” said Naki.
The design has a speed of 13.5 knots.
Next Read: Insurers force Kenyans to pay punitive motor insurance costs