Local company builds first ever commercial ship

A Mombasa-based company has finally manufactured the first ever locally assembled ship whose value is estimated at Ksh 180 million.

The cargo vessel, with a capacity of 2,400 tonnes, is a project of Southern Engineering Company (SECO) Marine and Offshore Engineering and has met the set international standards.

According to the company’s Group Director, John Msafari, it took them eight months to assemble the vessel.

Msafari said that the barge, 64 metres long, is made of steel weighing about 840 tonnes.

Msafari  disclosed that the vessel has already been purchased by Alpha Logistics, a marine contracting company that handles oil and gas deliveries.

Last year, the company is reported to have manufactured the fourth ferry, Albert 1, for the Ugandan government.

SECO is currently assembling a research vessel for Lake Kivu in Rwanda and also has Alpha Kirawira, a 1,500 tonnes vessel currently plying Dar es Salaam – Zanzibar and Mogadishu – Kismayu routes.