U.S. Donates War Ship to Navy Today

Leadership (Abuja)

Abiodun Oluwarotimi

13 May 2011

Washington DC — The United States Coast Guards would today in California donate a giant war ship to the Nigerian Navy in its bid to further strengthen the regional security aspect of the Bio-national agreement between the US and the Nigerian government.

The war ship (Cutter) will be donated to the Nigerian Navy in recognition of the good relationship that exists between the two nations.

Our correspondent authoritatively gathered that the vessel was commissioned to the United States Navy in 1968 but was later de-commissioned on March 29, 2011.

The war ship that the Nigerian Navy will take delivery of today had participated in several missions of the United States in enforcing maritime treaties.

LEADERSHIP learnt that the refurbished war ship, which has a high level of maneuverability, an helicopter pad, guns (76mm) and two diesel engines has no missile capability.

Investigations showed that the ship would not sail to Nigeria until July 2011 as a result of the training that has been organised for the Nigerian crew.

The training which begins on May 16, 2011, would be completed in July, after which the ship would sail to Nigeria.

An official of the Nigerian embassy reliably told our correspondent that the Nigerian Navy, which already has 21 engineers on a sister ship, undergoing trainings since February 2011, is fully prepared to manage the newly acquired war ship effectively.

The source added that the Nigerian Navy has capable officers that will maintain the vessel due to the continuous training that has been on since.

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