The Department of Port Administration has bought a second tugboat, Peggy H, ensuring it meets US Coast Guard requirements.
The Coast Guard requires the Port of Pago Pago to have two tugboats but has been operating with only one since it sold one of its tugboats to Samoa.
The current Coast Guard waiver to that requirement expires March 12.
Deputy Port Director Christopher King and Captain Lafoga Alovao made the purchase of the Peggy H in Alabama this week.
Port Administration has a five-member crew, currently in Alabama, and the vessel will sail to American Samoa on the same route that the Manu’atele made in 2017.
The “Peggy H” was built in 1983, has been refurbished over the last year.
