Krupp Ruhrorter Schiffswerft, Duisberg, West Germany, has completed two of four pusher tugs ordered by the Central Water Transportation Company Ltd., Onitsha, Nigeria.
The new tugs, Lau and Baro, were shipped recently from Rotterdam to Nigeria on the deck of an oceangoing vessel.
The tug christened Ajaokuta by the wife of the chairman of the CWTC, Chief Obande, at its recent launching in mid-August, will be completed in October. The fourth vessel, the Numan, will be completed in December. Both will be shipped to Nigeria at the end of December. All four vessels will be used on the Niger River and in the Nigerian delta regions.
The vessels were built to Germanische Lloyd class, Class GL + 100 A5 I pusher tug + MC 1. The specifications are: length overall, 28 meters (about 92 feet); molded breadth, 11.15 meters (37 feet); loaded draft, 1.40 meters (about 4½ feet); fuel capacity 90 t; and speed, approximately 16 km/h. Each boat can push a maximum of six barges each approximately 750 dwt.
The propulsion machinery consists of two main engines each rated at 336 kw at 1,800 rpm for the Lau and Baro, and 672 kw at 1,800 rpm for the tugs being completed, two reversing reduction gears, two oil-lubricated line shaftings, two four-bladed propellers, two propeller nozzles and two rudders with quoin. The tubular coolers for cooling the main engines are accommodated in the sea chest. Two air-cooled diesel generators, each rated at 40 kva, supply the entire electrical system.
In early 1982, the Central Water Transportation Company of Nigeria will put four new Krupp pusher tugs into service on the Niger and in the Nigerian delta regions. Shown above are the first two of these tugs, the Lau and Baro.