ENHANCING SAFETY, SECURITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF APIA PORT PROJECT (ESSSAP)
HON. OLO FITI AFOA VAA’I
HON. MINISTER OF WWORKS, TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE
TUESDAY 09TH AUGUST 2022, 4:00 PM
__________________________________________________________________________________
Rev Deacon Etilasi Eti
Honourable Prime Minister & Ministers of Cabinet
Honourable Speaker of the House and Members of Parliament
Chief Justice and members of the Judiciary
Your Excellencies; Executive Members of the Asian Development Bank;
Members of the Diplomatic Corp
The Chairman and the Board of Directors of the Samoa Ports Authority
Heads of Government Ministries and Corporations,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
______________________________________________________________________
I am delighted to be here, as we gather to officially launch the new state-of-the-art tug boat, the SA’ULA-60.
The supply, commissioning and warranty of the new tug boat, is one component of the Enhancing Safety, Security and Sustainability of Apia port project currently in progress, kindly funded through a Grant Aid by the Asian Development Bank and our Government. This is a timely celebration as I wish to acknowledge the presence of the Asian Development Bank Director General Pacific Department, Ms Leah Gutierrez; the Alternate Executive Director for Samoa on the ADB Board; Mrs Karen Murray; Mr Aaron Batten; the Regional Director; Pacific Sub-regional office Suva Fiji and Ms Katherine Guy; the Infrastructure Specialist and also the Project Officer for this port project.
Building resilience to climate change, strengthening border security, and boosting trade are all key components of the Apia Port Project, and we will continue working with ADB to make Apia Port a more secure, and greener international gateway.
A tug boat plays a critically important role in the works of the Samoa Ports Authority in carrying out its mandated function of berthing and un-berthing of vessels. The arrival of the new state of the art tug boat will greatly improve the capacity and capability of the Authority to handle larger ships that call into the Apia port.
There were five interested shipbuilding companies from Europe, China and Hong Kong that submitted bids. The bids evaluation committee upon completion of their assessment of bids submitted the evaluation report to the Tenders Board and Cabinet to endorse their recommendation to award the contract to Cheoy Lee Shipyards of Hong Kong at the bid price of USD$5,150,000.00 which includes the construction of the tug boat, delivery to Samoa and training.
The contract between Samoa Ports Authority and Cheoy Lee Shipyards was signed on 09 January 2021.
The construction phase was completed at the end of June 2022 where sea trials and tests were carried out under the supervision of the Lloyds Company surveyors. The tug boat maiden voyage to Samoa departed Vietnam on 02 July 2022 manned by four crew from the Redwise company of Netherlands accompanied by two representatives from the Maritime Division of SPA; a Captain and a Chief Engineer for familiarisation and training onboard. The voyage safely docked at the Apia port at 4pm on Sunday 31 July 2022.
Cabinet on 23 March 2022 endorsed the recommendation by the Authority as per FK(22)10 to name the new tug boat SA’ULA-60. Sa’ula is the Samoan name for Blue Marlin which is a favourite fish for local fishermen during the annual game fishing tournament. The addition of the number 60 is a tribute to our beloved country for reaching it’s 60th Independence Anniversary in 2022.
This launch of the new tug boat, Sa’ula-60 will greatly benefit all the people of Samoa and will improve the service of the Samoa Ports Authority to all it’s stakeholders and Port users.
Today confirms the Government’s commitment to ensure we deliver the best service which will greatly assist all other areas of the Government’s development plans with one aim in mind is to improve the quality of life for all Samoans.
Through the Director General Pacific Department of the Asian Development Bank and your delegation, I wish to extend our sincere thanks and heartfelt appreciation to the Asian Development Bank for your continued support and assistance for Samoa.
I would also like to acknowledge the great work by the Cheoy Lee Shipyards of Hong Kong and the maritime consultants Haskoning of Vietnam who assisted with drawings and finalising technical specifications of the vessel.
Special thanks to the Chairman of the Board; Afioga Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Samoa Ports Authority for your vision and the hard work that was put into this project that enables it’s successful completion. To the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Finance for your part in securing funding and other arrangements for this project.
May the Lord’s blessings be upon us all and this new tug boat
Soifua.
