The Port of Lomé has added a new tugboat operated by Spanish maritime services company Boluda, expanding its capacity to assist large vessels as shipping traffic grows and competition among West African ports intensifies.
The vessel arrived earlier this week and was received by Edem Kokou Tengue, director general of the Lomé Port Authority, and executives from Boluda Togo. An official naming ceremony is scheduled for January 2027.
Built in 2026 by Turkish shipbuilder SANMAR, the tugboat measures 23 meters long and 12 meters wide. It is powered by two Caterpillar 3516 engines with a combined output of more than 6,000 horsepower and is equipped with two Rolls-Royce azimuth thrusters.
The vessel has a bollard pull of 80 tons, compared with 70 tons for the other tugboats in the port's fleet. It can accommodate six crew members and sailed to Lomé from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands with an all-Togolese crew.
The addition is expected to improve the port's ability to assist ships during berthing and unberthing operations. The greater towing capacity should make it easier to maneuver larger vessels, improve operational efficiency and strengthen Lomé's appeal to shipping lines.
The new tugboat arrives as Lomé works to strengthen its competitive position among West African ports, particularly against Tema in neighboring Ghana.
Lomé placed 91st in Lloyd's List's 2026 ranking of the world's 100 busiest container ports, up one position from the previous year. The port handled 2.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2025, a 16% increase from 2024. Ghana's Tema port ranked 94th.
Esaïe Edoh