President William Ruto today commissioned the MV Uhuru II in the Kenya Ship Yard in Kisumu.

Mv Uhuru is the first ship to be locally constructed and assembled at the Kenya Ship Yard, this makes Kenya the pioneer of shipbiulding in EastAfrica.

The ship was built by different Kenyan agencies which include, Kenya Defence Forces in partnership with a Dutch firm, Damen shipyard and costed 2.4billion, this ship will save kenya’s taxpayers approximately sh 1.3billion which would have been spent on importations.

The ship has a capacity of 2 million litres of crude oil per trip and can comfortably carry 22 wagons across the lake, it can also sail to neighbouring countries Uganda and Tanzania within 10 hours according to Kenya shipyard managing director Brigadier Paul Otieno Owuor, this is slightly higher compared to MV Uhuru I which has a capacity of 1.1million litres and a speed capable of travelling to Port Bell in Uganda in 17 hours.

This facility will open job opportunities to locals and more opportunities for export.