Mombasa firm shipyard builds three boats for Tanzania
Mombasa-based shipyard, Southern Engineering Company (Seco), has marked an important milestone in the construction of vessels after building three pilot boats for Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), bringing the number of vessels built in the yard to eight in less than a decade.
The three vessels with a length of 20 metres, depth of three meters and a draft of 1.7 metres christened RUBANI 1 for Dar es Salaam Port, RUBANI 2 for Tanga Port and RUBANI 3 for Mtwara Port were designed to specification by Western Australia-based award-winning naval architecture firm, Southerly Designs. They were completed this week and are awaiting delivery.
Constructed in steel with an aluminium superstructure and classed by Bureau Veritas, the deck-house will include seating for two crew and up to 12 passengers, while accommodation for three crew will be provided on the lower deck.
This is the second time in three years Seco is securing a tender from TPA to construct their vessels after last year it assembled two cargo vessels with capacity to handle 2,000 tonnes of dry cargo or 72 twenty-foot containers (Teus).
Seco Shipyard general manager Sanjiv Nair said TPA were impressed by the delivery of the two barges thus building confidence with them.
Second tender
"TPA awarded Seco the second tender after delivering quality vessels last year, which met international standards. The three boats are ready on time despite disruptions by Covid-19 pandemic. Seco implemented robust measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all involved with the project and we hope other East African countries will build confidence with us since we have a well-trained team," said Mr Nair.
The GM said the three boats will be powered by two MAN D2862 LE 432 engines, which will develop a total output of 882kW at 2,100 rpm, coupled with ZF 2050A transmissions and Nakashima five-blade propellers, to deliver a free sailing maximum speed of 20 knots.
"A notable feature of these hulls is the twin skeg arrangement, offering outstanding protection to the running gear and facilitating the use of oversized rudders. The twin keels will provide significantly improved directional stability and roll damping," said Mr Nair.
Completion of the three vessels brings the number of such vessels built at Seco shipyard to eight, in less than a decade, after the Uganda government contracted Seco to build four vessels in 2012.
Marine engineering
The four vessels built for Uganda include MV Albert Nile 1 which is a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) modular ferry specially designed to safely transport passengers and vehicles across Lake Albert in Uganda.
The others were three passenger ferries, MV Bisina, MV Obongi and MV Laropi, which are modular passenger ferries plying the Okokorio and Agule route, the Sinyanya channel and Umi route respectively.
Seco was established in 1957 to offer marine engineering services and has shipbuilding and dry-dock facilities at the Kilindini wharf in Mombasa.
Maritime players in Kenya have been calling on the government to support investors exploring shipbuilding as part of the blue economy agenda and as a step towards having locally built vessels calling at our ports.
Kenya in April 2019 contracted Dutch firm, Damen Group, as the main project contractor of a modern shipyard facility at the Kenya Navy Mtongwe base. Completion is projected for July next year.
