Durban — Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) christened the latest addition to its dredging services fleet and revealed the name for the new plough tug was Mohoma at the Durban Port on Wednesday.
Chairperson of the Transnet board Popo Molefe said the name Mohoma was derived from Sesotho and means “to plough”, which is befitting for the function of the vessel.
He said the name was chosen in a naming competition among TNPA employees, with the winning name being entered by three employees.
He said the demand for dredging services had increased in the region and the addition of this plough tug would increase the berth capacity of the ports.
“Managing the demand is part of TNPA’s growth plan, which will see the continuous improvement of port infrastructure. This ceremony will be a significant milestone in TNPA’s efforts to expand the Durban Ports by increasing the number of tugs in the port.
“The plough tug will play a crucial role in this expansion, providing essential services to support the growth of the port and the surrounding community in Durban,” said Molefe.
He said the plough tug was used as a bed leveller to smooth out high spots created by marine traffic in high-volume berth areas and the vessel complements the work of dredgers, which serve the purpose of maintaining or increasing the depth of navigation channels, anchorages or berthing areas to ensure the safe passage of boats and vessels.
“The purchase of plough tug Mohoma forms part of TNPA’s ongoing fleet replacement programme and replaces the plough tug Impisi, a 50-year-old marine craft that has surpassed its operational lifespan.
“Over the past few years, the Impisi has been confined to the Port of Durban due to her limited availability, and Mohoma will enable TNPA dredging services to plough at all the South African ports,” said Molefe.
Sefale Montsi, director of Damen Shipyards Cape Town, said Mohoma was a multi-functional seagoing workboat for harbour and coastal services.
“It is a unit from the Shoalbuster series, built in steel to the Damen standard design.
“We are honoured to deliver this state-of-the-art plough tug to TNPA. This vessel has the capacity of a 45-ton bollard pull measure, 33m long and 9m wide, and can plough up to 25m depth.
“With a spacious working deck, this versatile work boat will serve as an asset for TNPA’s ports and dredging operations. The world-class vessel showcases the Damen Group’s design knowledge, the skill of our South African shipbuilding team and our first-class local equipment manufacturers and co-makers.”
She said TNPA delivered on job creation, skills development, local industry supplier development and technology transfer.
“This vessel is also designed to be able to sail on the open sea so that it can move from port to port.
“We are also here with our supply chain manager and he co-ordinated thousands of components that make up this vessel. He worked with each supplier to build our local supplier base to identify the opportunities and to localise what is possible to support our local suppliers. This had to meet world-class standards,” said Montsi.
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