The project is now 81% complete and still on track to deliver the ninth and final tug early in 2018, on time and within budget. Five tugs are under construction at any given time at the premises of contractor, Southern African Shipyards. Four are already delivered and at work in Port Elizabeth and Saldanha. The new tug – named UKHOZI – will serve at the Port of Richards Bay. She is Kwa-Zulu Natal’s first new tug among four planned for the province’s ports. Richards Bay is expecting another of these relatively small but powerful vessels used to guide visiting ships safely into port by pushing or towing them, while Durban will also receive two.
In line with maritime tradition, the duty of christening the vessel was carried out by Lady Sponsor, Sagree Chetty, TNPA’s General Manager: Legal, Risk, Compliance and Regulatory.
Speaking at the ceremony, TNPA Chief Executive, Richard Vallihu, acknowledged that it was essential to have well-trained people in place to support Transnet’s major drive to ramp up infrastructure and efficiency at South Africa’s ports. Transnet has set aside a record-breaking R7,7 billon for training over the next 10 years. The port authority will contribute in excess of R56 billion of capital expenditure under Transnet’s rolling R300 billion-plus Market Demand Strategy, or MDS, which is now in its fifth year. According to Southern African Shipyards CEO, Prasheen Maharaj, the launch of this the fifth tug, again, within time and budget, has demonstrated clearly that South Africa has the capabilities to deliver world-class services locally. “The concerted efforts by TNPA and other State entities to promote localisation must be commended. It is only when we boost our own economy, that will we be able to address the current scourge of unemployment our youth face. The Maritime Sector and Operation Phakisa specifically serves as a beacon of hope for millions of South Africans,” he said. Maharaj concluded that Southern African Shipyards would remain proud of this, the largest contract to be awarded to any single company by TNPA for the building of harbour craft, and looked forward to seeing the other four tugs off with equal delight. The nine tugs are being built over three and a half years, as part of a wider fleet replacement programme that also includes new dredging vessels and new marine aviation helicopters. The programme is aimed at improving operational efficiency in the ports. TNPA’s new fleet of nine tugs are each 31 meters long with a 70 ton bollard pull. They feature the latest global technology such as Voith Schneider propulsion which makes them highly manoeuvrable. Vallihu said UKHOZI and others in the new fleet would aid South African ports as they continued to service bigger commercial vessels more frequently.
Five tugs down – four more to go
