Launch and unveiling of the first Nigerian-owned tugboat M/V Naomi Princess

Melka West Africa Ltd today announced its acquisition of the M/V Naomi Princess, a marine tugboat that will serve the marine commercial industry in Nigeria. The unveiling and launching ceremony of the M/V Naomi Princess took place today June 30, 2015 at the Naval Dockyard, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Melka West Africa is an indigenous company solely into the provision of marine, logistics and support services, both from offshore to onshore and vice-versa. Melka (W.A) operates a fleet of offshore marine support vessels, serving the offshore oil and gas exploration and production industry. Through the provision of these services, Melka achieves and maintains a leadership position as the preferred marine and security provider in the Nigerian and West African Oil and Gas Industry.

The M/V Naomi Princess, which is named after the first daughter of Chairman and CEO of Melka (W.A) Ltd, Chief Michael Uwaka, is a sophisticated marine tugboat acquired by Melka in 2015. The M/V Naomi Princess provides for easy line handling, crude oil tanker services and Offshore stop gap work site. Special features include fire fighting and water spraying capabilities, state of the art technologies with inrestricted navigation, engineering precision with a bollard pull of seventy tonnes, and long voyage amenities including a mess hall, kitchen, and sleeping mattress.

Melka (W.A) has employed a wide range of professionals, artisans, and technicians whose dedication and orientation have contributed to tremendously to the achievements of the company. Melka also employs relationships with several well known engineering and oil srvice providers which allows the company to provide wide ranging services quickly and effectively.

Speaking at the official launch and unveiling event of the M/V Naomi Princess, which is the first Nigerian-owned tugboat, former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (GCON) lauded the strides made by Chief Uwaka and Melka (W.A) in the marine and oil industry in his opening remarks.

Also, in his welcome address, Chairman/CEO Melka 9W.A) Ltd, Chief Micheal Uwaka, gave thanks to the dignitaries present, which included Chief Sonny Odogwu, immediate past Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Azoba, and many others. The Melka CEO also gave a brief history of his working career at Chevron, and how he came back to Nigeria to form the marine giant known today as Melka (W.A) Ltd, stating that First Bank Nigeria played a big role in the company's acquisition of the Naomi Princess tugboat.

After the Chairman's welcome address, a short documentary video was played for the guests before former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America, Ambassador George Obiozor, took to the stage to give his address titled "Entrepreneurial Challenges in Nigeria".

A representative of the First Bank of Nigeria, along with representatives from NAPIMS, NCDMB, the Chairman Sovereign Trust Insurance, Chief Ephraim Faluoghi, and many other guests gave their addresses as well before the the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Naomi Princess.

Afterwards, guests were served lunch and the company lawyer for Melka (W.A) gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the CEO of the company. The launch and unveiling of the Naomi Princess marks a turning point in the Nigerian Marine industry were such equipment were previously owned solely by foreigners. In a remark made during his speech, the Chairman/CEO of Melka stated that the acquisition of the tugboat was made possible by the passage of the Local Content Law which has enabled indigenous investors and industry players to play a bigger role in shaping the Nigerian marine sector.