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Marine accidents loom in Lake Victoria
2008-03-23 10:18:53
By Darius Mukiza, recently in Mwanza
``My God, we are dying. Who will save us? It is very dark. We see nothing. The pilots are quiet,`` one of the passengers aboard Mv Serengeti from Mwanza to Bukoba shouted almost hysterically. Within no time wailings from all corners filled the ship.
It was like a disaster in the coming. Strong winds which sounded like a storm were hitting the ship. All passengers, including myself, were gripped with fear.
We remembered the MV Bukoba disaster 12 years ago when about a thousand people lost their lives, forget property!
For one hour bottles and glasses flew from tables to the floor, while doors flung open and shut. It was terrible on the night of March 11 this year.
There was neither a word from the ship`s pilots nor from its sailors. When the weather calmed, Aniceth Nestor, a businessman remarked: ``Last week there was a similar situation but we were not provided with life jackets.
We later learned that the ship lacked public address system. The captain could not communicate with his passengers on board.``
The ship was overloaded. I did not realize then that I was standing on top of a coffin because of the limited space available on the decks.
Passenger Ashraf Sadik said nonchalantly: ``Let us unite and contribute cash to buy a new steamer.
My friends we are in a grave zone. By using these unpredictable ships we may one day fall victim to the wrath of Lake Victoria. Do not forget MV Bukoba!``
He went on: ``The government promised to check overloading on the steamers. You are all witnessing how congested the ship is. We are well over the ship’s authorized capacity of 250 persons.``
MV Serengeti takes about twelve hours to ply from Mwanza to Bukoba. It is too small a steamer to meet the great demand for travel.
The Surface and Marine Transport Authority has since last year proposed the grounding of the ship alongside MV Victoria for lacking necessary equipment to operate.
Oscar Kikoyo, the secretary of Sumatra’s consultative council, says: ``We proposed both the ships to stop their operations.
This is because they are very old and lack necessary equipment for the safety of passengers and their properties. If the government will not check the situation we may have another MV Bukoba occurrence.``
But Assistant Director of Marine Transport John Kilenzi admits the absence of plans to buy new vessels although the government was looking for an investor in the lake transport. ``We shall continue repairing the available ships until a new investor is found, ``he says.
A consultant on marine navigation, Captain Joseph Muguthi, formerly a Kenya Navy Captain, said recently that a recurrence of the MV Bukoba accident was likely following the flouting with impunity all safety regulations.
Absence of life saving equipment such as jackets, rifts, boats and distress signals confirm his observation.
The mandatory dry docking after every 18 months is also ignored.
Muguthi says boats were the worst when it came to flouting safety regulations.
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