Anchored Tanzania ship capsizes, partially sinks in Lake Victoria

By Our Correspondent, MWANZA Tanzania

A Tanzania’s passengers ship, MV Clarias owned by the Marine Services Company Limited (MSCL), which makes its trips between Mwanza North Port and Ngoziba Island in Kagera region, capsized and sank in Lake Victoria while anchored at Mwanza North Port on the night of May 19. 2024.

The ship, capable of carrying 216 passengers and ten tons of cargo, returned last Saturday morning from the island with passengers and cargo.

Our source said that the capsized ship was scheduled to travel to Ukerewe island the next day replacing the MV. Butiama which had no sufficient fuel due to internet failure in Tanzania and the government systems.

The ship underwent major repairs last year, so the incident of capsizing and sinking in the water while anchored raises complex questions.

The incident happened a few days before the 28th commemoration anniversary of the MV Bukoba that sank into Lake Victoria killing more than 800 people.

The Chief Executive Officer of MSCL, Eric Hamissi, speaking by phone from the scene, has acknowledged the capsize of the MV Clarias and noted that they are making efforts to lift it from the water.

"Here we are making efforts to lift the ship out of the water, but there is no harm to humans because there were no passengers or cargo inside when it capsized," he said.

Eric has said that at the moment it is too early to determine what happened and caused the ship to overturn, so he will give an official statement of the cause after lifting it.

At the same time, MSCL's Information Officer, Abdulrahman Ally, has said that the ship overturned while anchored at the port of Mwanza North.

"MV Clarias traveling between Mwanza Port in the North and Gonziba Island, returned safely from the island on Saturday morning with passengers and cargo, dropped them off at Kirumba before coming to park in the North Port," he said.

Abdulrahman said that on May 19, this year, around 10:00 in the morning, the port guards reported that the ship was lying on one side in the water while under way.

He explained that from 5:00 to 9:00 at night, the ship was safe floating in the water, so the reports of it lying on one side and then capsizing surprised them because there were no passengers or any cargo inside.

MSCL has the fleet of 18 vessels for both passengers and cargo transportation. Nine (9) of these vessels are deployed in Lake Victoria, 3 in Lake Tanganyika and 5 in Lake Nyasa.

The fleet is made up of 9 passenger-cargo vessels, 2 Oil Tankers, 3 Cargo vessels, 1 Tug, 2 self-propelled barges and 1 tourist boat.