Giant vessels that were once pride of EA

Travellers arrive at Mbita from Lwanda Kotieno in Bondo aboard a ferry. In 1966, the famous giant ferry – MV Uhuru – first floated on the fresh waters of Lake Victoria shortly after it was delivered by Scottish company, Yarrow Shipbuilders. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • What now characterises the once -industrious Kisumu pier are old vessels, run down facilities and a bushy vicinity.

  • Lake Victoria is a rich resource badly managed and there seems to be no end in sight to its current woes.

In 1966, the famous giant ferry – MV Uhuru – first floated on the fresh waters of Lake Victoria shortly after it was delivered by Scottish company, Yarrow Shipbuilders.

The arrival of the 1,000-tonne, 91-metre long cargo carrier – and its sister MV Umoja signalled an era of a business boom across the East African Community (EAC) as the two plied the Kisumu-Mwanza-Port Bell route in the world’s second-largest fresh water lake.

These vessels, owned and operated by the now defunct East Africa Railways and Harbours Corporation (EARH), were the longest on any of the East African lakes and sailed around the lake where they were complemented by rail wagons in Kisumu, Mwanza, Musoma and Jinja.

But a wave of nationalisation in Uganda by President Milton Obote and the eviction of Asian traders by a military junta led by Idi Amin saw business dwindle and the country’s economy collapsed. With the collapse of the EARH, the vessels were detained in Kenya.

Forty years later, MV Uhuru lies at an under-equipped dry dock rusting away where time and corrosion is slowly gnawing the steel hulls.

The wagon ferry too is slowly decaying – with its old grandeur fading away.

MV Uhuru’s engine stopped roaring some 12 years ago due to technical hitches and the stoppage of rail transport to the lake in 2006.

MV Umoja was bedevilled by accidents and neglect which was once aptly captured in Paul Theroux’s 2002 book Dark Star Safari when he wrote: “The cabin room was filled with gnat-sized insects, clouds of them circling the light and smacking the cabin screens. The cabin was rusty and bad smelling, the bedding unwashed.”

What now characterises the once -industrious Kisumu pier are old vessels, run down facilities and a bushy vicinity.

Lake Victoria is a rich resource badly managed and there seems to be no end in sight to its current woes.

JETTIES

When the rail transport was booming, goods were transported from Mombasa port via Nairobi and Nakuru to Kisumu, where the cargo would then be loaded directly to ferries using jetties extended from the rail tracks.

An ordinary journey took 13 hours between Port Bell in Uganda and Kisumu in Kenya, and 19 hours between Port Bell and Mwanza in Tanzania.

The lake, shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania on six, 43 and 51 per cent basis respectively, emerged as a pivotal commercial link.

The clockwise trips allowed interior countries such as Burundi, South Sudan and Rwanda to transport freight to and from world markets.

Despite not sharing the lake directly, these countries have since joined EAC since they have common economic interests.

When EARH was divided between partner states, MV Uhuru was transferred to the Kenya Railways Corporation in 1977 and MV Umoja to Tanzania Railways Corporation.

LAKE MAINTENACE

The maintenance of the lake, which was last dredged in 1990, has been left to nature as it now relies on rising levels of water to allow big ships to dock.

Cargoes and passengers use the same dock yard to embark and disembark while most cargoes now leave and arrive at the port with less frequency due to slow movement of goods.

The navigation lights which were vandalized in the early years of Independence are yet to be replaced.

Kenya Maritime Authority branch inspector Jeremiah Onyango said if properly developed, water transport would play a vital role in unlocking the economic potential, increasing competitiveness and integration of countries in East Africa.

CHEAPEST MEANS

“Water transport is the cheapest and most efficient means of moving bulky goods in the region. It reduces the cost of imports and exports hence better profit,” he said.

Mr Vitalis Leo, a retired captain who used to ship goods across the three countries for 20 years, said it was by sheer luck or the years of experience of a coxswain that a ship can leave one pier and safely dock in its destination.

In 2016, Lake Victoria Basin Commission, an EAC body tasked with advancing development in the lake, secured a $450 million (Sh47.4 billion) from the World Bank to de-silt piers to fit larger vessels and install electronic maps. This is yet to be done.

Mr Malcolm Ormiston, a Scottish investor who runs the Kisumu-based Globology Ltd Company that designs, builds and operates ferries in Lake Victoria said the lake deserved a safe, affordable and convenient mode of transport.