Canadian ship designer Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) says that a new tug, to a custom RAstar 4200 design, has been delivered to Kenya Port Authority from the Turkish shipyard Med Marine.
The tug, Mwokozi II, is 42m in length, designed with 120t bollard pull for salvage and harbour duties, the specification calling for high performance in manoeuvring, seakeeping, and stability. The vessel is designed to operate in East Africa and Indian Ocean regions and can undertake international salvage and towage operations involving very large vessels.
The establishment of an IMO Regional Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in Mombasa Port prompted the management to recognise the need of having a sea-going vessel with the capacity to perform salvage and successful search and rescue operations. The name Mwokozi, means saviour and signifies the important role that the vessel will play for its owner. In recent years, the incidences of ships grounding in the Indian Ocean within Kenyan Territorial waters have become more common. The salvage operations are expected to create a new revenue stream for the Kenya Port Authority and enhance its corporate image as a leading port along Western Indian Ocean Seaboard.
The Mwokozi II was constructed to RINA rules with notation RINA C ✠ TUG, AUT-UMS, Fire Fighting Ship 1 with Water Spraying, In Water Survey, Unrestricted Navigation.
The vessel is SOLAS compliant for gross tonnage >1000. Main propulsion comprises a pair of Cat C280-12 diesel engines, each rated at 3700 kW at 1000 rpm, and each driving a Schottel SRP 710 Fixed Pitch, 3.4m propeller Z-drive. The vessel is equipped with a Schottel tunnel thruster at the bow for enhanced manoeuvrability. Electrical plant comprises two Caterpillar C 9.3 diesel gen-sets each with a power output of 200 kWe.
On trials, the Mwokozi II exceeded performance expectations with 126t bollard pull and free running speed ahead of 14.7 knots.
