Kenya’s state of the art Ksh1.1 billion tugboat is named after the late Captain Eugene Okoth who passed away in 2016.
The captain was on board an inbound vessel (car carrier) when he passed away. He died while performing pilotage duties.
The 75 Bollard Pull(BP) tugboat which was christened Eugene arrived at the Port of Mombasa in 2018 and it's one of its kind in East and Central Africa.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) acquired the tugboat in order to boost efficiency at the port in Mombasa. This mainly included allowing smooth operations at the sea side especially when another tugboat was out station due to factors like maintenance.
The Azimuth Stern Driven (ASD) tugboat arrived from the Cheoy Lee Ship builders in China and is fitted with the most powerful and advanced caterpillar E series engines.
It also has a length overall (LOA) of 32 metres. This makes the tugboat stand out from the other ASD tugboats which have a LOA of 30 metres.
MV Eugene is instrumental in the undertaking of marine operations including berthing and un-berthing of ships, execution of tug services within and outside the harbour.
The acquisition of MV Eugene guaranteed simultaneous movement of two or three vessels at any given time. This therefore translates to optical availability of four.
At the time of its acquisition, 90% of the vessels calling at the port in Mombasa were post Panamax. This meant that that at least two tug boats were required for berthing and unberthing.
The vessel also provides maritime pollution control and fire suppression.
