MV ''Bukoba'' was a

Lake Victoria ferry Lake Victoria ferries are motor ships (earlier examples were steamboats) for ferry services carrying freight and/or vehicles and/or passengers between Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya on Lake Victoria. Operating ferries on Lake Victoria are m ...

that carried passengers and cargo along

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

's Lake Victoria between the

n ports of

Bukoba Bukoba is a city with a population of 128,796 (2012 census), situated in the north west of Tanzania on the south western shores of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region, and the administrative seat for Bukoba Urban District. ...

and

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest c ...

City. MV ''Bukoba' was built in about 1979 and had capacity for 850 tons of cargo and 430 passengers. On 21 May 1996, MV ''Bukoba'' sank off

city in of water, killing up to 1,000 people. The official deaths record is 894.

Sinking

The manifest for her final voyage showed 443 passengers in her first and second class cabins, but her cheaper third class accommodation had no manifest. Abu Ubaidah al-Banshiri, who was then second in command of al Qaeda, died in the disaster.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Benjamin Mkapa Benjamin William Mkapa (12 November 193824 July 2020) was the third president of Tanzania, in office from 1995 to 2005. He was Chairman of the Revolutionary State Political Party ( Chama Cha Mapinduzi, CCM). Early life Mkapa was born in Lupaso, ...

declared three days of national mourning. Criminal charges were brought against nine Tanzania Railway Corporation officials, including the captain of the ''Bukoba'' and the manager of TRC's Marine Division.

Causes

Possible causes were identified by Captain Joseph Muguthi, formerly of the

Kenya Navy The Kenya Navy is the naval branch of the Kenya Defence Forces. It is headquartered in Mombasa. Kenya Navy has two major bases for its fleet with it being headquartered in Mtongwe Naval Base, Mombasa and Manda Bay (part of Lamu Archipelago) b ...

, and writing in the pages of the '' Daily Nation'' as a marine navigation consultant. He labelled it an accident waiting to happen, as Lake Victoria ferries disregarded safety regulations. Specifically: #lack of

life jackets A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suite that is worn by a ...

, life belts, and

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

; #lack of fire fighting equipment; #lack of distress signals; #what equipment there is, is not regularly checked; #overload #the vessels are not regularly dry docked for routine maintenance and repairs; #the vessels are not regularly inspected; #the

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boa ...

s are not licensed to navigate. More overarchingly, Muguthi blamed the incident on governments' marine departments being staffed by civil servants and politicians who have no understanding of ships and marine decisions. The lack of equipment and divers were partially to blame for slowness in the salvage operation. Rescue teams from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, including

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

divers, were flown in to salvage the ship and retrieve bodies.

Replacement

Replacement of the new ship is on construction at 89.7 bn/-, with the capacity of carrying around 1200 passengers, 20 vehicles and 400 tonnes of cargo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukoba, MV Ferries of Tanzania Maritime incidents in Tanzania Shipwrecks of Africa Shipwrecks in lakes Maritime incidents in 1996 Mwanza 1979 ships 1996 in Tanzania May 1996 events Lake Victoria Passenger ships of Tanzania 1996 disasters in Tanzania

Sinking

Causes

Replacement

See also

References