MV VICTORIA TO BE GROUNDED FOR THREE MORE MONTHS

The government has said Mv Victoria which offers passenger services in Lake Victoria between Mwanza and Bukoba will remain grounded for three months as it undergoes major repairs.

 

Speaking here over the weekend Transport Minister Dr Harrison Mwakyembe said the ship has become defective needing major repairs before it is allowed to sail.

 

Last week the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) banned the ship from operating after it was discovered that the ship is not lake worthy.

 

The ban on the ship was given only a day after it arrived from Mwanza where it had been undergoing repair for one month.

 

Dr Mwakyembe said over the weekend that they were still waiting the money from the treasury to start repair work of the ship.

He said the government has undertaken to repair Mv Serengeti to offer temporary passenger services between Mwanza and Bukoba as Mv Victoria undergoes repair.

 

Dr Mwakyembe said Mv Serengeti would ply Mwanza—Bukoba three days a week in order to ease transport problems to passengers of the two regions who now use road transport.

 

The minister said the government would buy a speed boat with the capacity of carrying 50 people come 2016. 

He said the speed boat would use one day to travel from Mwanza to Bukoba.

 

Earlier Acting Marine Services Company Manager Fabian Mayenga said the repair work of Mv Serengeti is going on well and that it would soon sail to Bukoba.

 

Mayenga said Mv Victoria was barred from sailing to avert possible calamity that befell Mv Bukoba which sank in Lake Victoria in 1996 killing more than 800 people onboard. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN