In a traditional ‘changing of flags’ handover ceremony, Albwardy Damen delivered the Landing Ship Transport 100 to the Nigerian Navy on 1 April 2022. The occasion was also the moment from when the vessel could be called by its official name of NNS Kada.

The ceremony was overseen by the Nigerian Minister of Defence Major General (retired) Bashir Salihi Magashi, Nigerian Vice Admiral and Chief of Naval Staff Awwal Zubairu Gambo, and other representatives from the Nigerian Navy, as well as the Nigerian Ambassadors to United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The NNS Kada was ready for her maiden voyage; the 100-metre-long vessel departed Sharjah, United Arab Emirates just two days later. The newly delivered vessel will not be sailing directly home; she will be making five stopovers en route to Nigeria. These stops will be to perform a ceremonial show of flag in Oman, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, and Gabon.

NNS Kada is a versatile amphibious roll-on roll-off vessel with loading ramps in the bow and stern. NNS Kada is a versatile amphibious roll-on roll-off vessel with loading ramps in the bow and stern.

The Nigerian Navy plans to use the NNS Kada to safeguard and increase maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. In addition, the ship combines quite an impressive cargo capacity with a bow ramp that allows loading and unloading to beaches and riverbanks. As such, it will also be deployed to provide humanitarian support and (disaster) relief to Nigeria.

Looking back on the key milestones of the project, Damen’s project director Sander Boost picks out some highlights. “The contracts were signed in 2018, after which we progressed so far with the engineering as to lay down the keel in December 2019. After a busy period of production, made all the more challenging due to the global coronavirus pandemic, we launched the ship in June 2021.”

Project director Sander Boost. Project director Sander Boost.

With construction and commissioning complete, the yard cracked on with the three rounds of Sea Acceptance Trials (SAT). The first SAT took place at the end of 2021; this resolved about 95 per cent of the Platform scope. This meant that all of the Combat scope needed to be dealt with during the next SAT, which took place in February 2022. “Unfortunately, we had to abort this SAT during the endurance run due to issues with the main exhaust system. The third SAT, which ended on the 28th of March, was very successful,” adds Sander.

Sander’s involvement on the project is not over now that the vessel has left Albwardy Damen. He will be coordinating the year-long warranty period. This comprises nine Damen advisors sailing on the vessel’s maiden voyage to Nigeria and the warranty engineer who will be based in Nigeria for the year-long warranty period. “There are always going to be issues with a newly delivered vessel. Our warranty engineer located in Nigeria for the NNS Kada is Mario Petzer and Omar Simons is located in Vlissingen. They will be close at hand to sort out any issues the client has during the first year of active duty, coordinating between the client, our suppliers, and calling in additional support from our service network if necessary.”

On her way to Nigeria, NNS Kada made stopovers in Oman, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, and Gabon. On her way to Nigeria, NNS Kada made stopovers in Oman, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, and Gabon.
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