Traditional authorities and local residents have welcomed the arrival of two Cameroonian tugboats during a ceremony to mark the symbolic blessing of Kiribi Port, which was attended by Louis Paul Motaze, chairman of the Kiribi steering committee.

The two tugs were delivered to Cameroon on July 8 by the Valparaiso, a ship flying the Liberian flag.

One is baptised "Mayesse King" and the other "king Madola" in tribute to two great iconic figures of history, respectively of the "Mabi" and "Batanga" people.

These two small vessels, will be tasked with guiding, pulling and pushing ships entering and leaving ports and also ships in distress.

They will push vessels with a capacity of nearly 70 000 tonnes and both have the same capabilities, a length of 30.1m, a width of 10.0m and a draft of 4.05m. Built in 2013, the two tugs will be piloted by Cameroon.

Receipt of these tugs was a moment of great joy for all involved. Patrice Guiamba said: "Today's ceremony marks the symbolic blessing that we give to the port of Kribi. All kribiens are proud to have this port, the largest port in Central Africa. But people have doubted it, they could see that it was not a political promise. We say thank you to Paul Biya."

To date, the work of the first phase of the industrial port complex of Kribi, are 96 per cent completed.

It has an annual capacity of 350,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent), and a multipurpose terminal with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.