Also included was 800m of floating pipeline, jet pontoons and other related materials.

The recipient is Foby Engineering Nigeria and its entrepreneurial founder, Mr Emmanuel Efobi, who has gone from running a copyshop in Port Harcourt to being his country's major indigenous dredging contractor in ten short years. Foby Engineering lays pipelines and reclaims marshes for oil companies, digs canals for navigation and harbour basins and generally specialises in building wet infrastructure in a competitive market dominated by foreign contractors before Mr Efobi came along.

Mr Efobi chose IHC equipment on the basis of its reputation for tough efficiency in harsh conditions such as the searing heat and draining humidity of Nigeria.

The Bureau Veritas classed DMC 1400, for example, has hull sides, bottom and deck plating constructed of 10mm thick steel, crane capacity up to 25 t/m, bollard pull of up to 7.2 tonnes, and Caterpillar engine options up to twin 300hp 3406 models.

The 16.5m Delta Tug 1600 is well proven for work in inland and coastal waters, with a bollard pull of up to 13 tonnes and power options to 950hp.

More than 600 IHC Beaver standard cutter and wheel dredgers have been supplied worldwide.

The 48 meter Beaver 3800 New Generation features a deck mounted engine room and a submerged dredgepump which is directly driven by a tandem set of Caterpillar diesel engines through pivoting gearbox.

The pump drive combines the production benefits of a submerged dredgepump with the high efficiency of direct drive. The hull consists of one centre pontoon and two side pontoons designed for quick assembly and dismantling. All dredging operations can be executed by one person, a definite advantage for Mr Efobi, who fills gaps in recruitment by hiring people from Poland.

MJ Information No: 17143