Port leaders from four African nations visit Ocean Craft Marine

Port leaders from four African nations visit Ocean Craft Marine © Ocean Craft Marine

On Thursday, September 17, Ocean Craft Marine welcomed senior port and infrastructure leaders from Kenya, Angola, Senegal, and Nigeria to our Annapolis, Maryland headquarters as part of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency's U.S.-Africa Port Security Modernization Reverse Trade Mission.

USTDA's reverse trade missions bring international decision-makers to the United States to see American goods, services, and technologies firsthand as they plan investments in their own infrastructure. This delegation included leadership from the Kenya Ports Authority, the Port of Luanda in Angola, Senegal Minergy Port, Dangote Industries of Nigeria, and Centum Real Estate's Vipingo development in Kenya, joined by officials from USTDA.

Roy Nouhra, Ocean Craft Marine's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, took the delegation inside the company: who we are, what we build, and where our boats already serve. He walked our guests through our manufacturing operations in both the United States and Dubai, our full range of composite and aluminum professional RHIBs from 4.1 to 14 meters, and the mission configurations we deliver for harbor patrol, interdiction, firefighting, search and rescue, and pilot and boarding operations. Every modern port invests in gates, scanners, and cameras; we build the layer on the water itself. More than 100 boats from our group's two factories have been delivered to 13 African nations since 2006, so much of what the delegation saw in Annapolis is already at work in their own waters.

Two guest presentations rounded out the day. The Port of Virginia's Maritime Incident Response Team (MIRT), the first team of its kind in the United States, briefed the group on its interagency model for all-hazard maritime response: more than 200 active members drawn from over 20 municipalities and agencies across law enforcement, fire service, and EMS, on call around the clock. Since its first Marine Firefighting School in 1991, MIRT has trained responders from across the United States and around the world, and for leaders strengthening port security programs of their own, it was a clear demonstration of what sustained training and interagency coordination can achieve. Honeywell then presented its approach to integrating a port's security technologies into a single operating picture, completing a day that spanned the people, platforms, and systems behind a secure modern port.

After the briefings, our guests stepped down to the dock and went under way on the Chesapeake Bay aboard OCM's 11.5-meter aluminum Offshore Interceptor. No slide can convey what a professional RHIB feels like at speed, and the delegation came back to the dock having felt it for themselves.

"It was a privilege to host this delegation and to hear directly from the leadership shaping the future of African ports. We stand ready to continue our longstanding support throughout the continent of Africa and are excited about future opportunities to help secure existing and emerging ports." Ryan Salus, Director of Business Development

Ocean Craft Marine thanks USTDA, the Port of Virginia Maritime Incident Response Team, Honeywell, and every member of the delegation. We look forward to supporting safe, secure, and thriving ports across Africa.