Ports and port infrastructure
The main
ports on the lake are in
Kisumu in Kenya;
Mwanza,
Musoma,
Bukoba in Tanzania;
Entebbe,
Port Bell and
Jinja in Uganda. Many smaller Lake Victoria ports are also in use, the number of ports served by ferries in Tanzania alone reaches 30.
The four ports Kisumu, Port Bell, Musoma and Mwanza allow dedicated
train ferries to dock at railroad ferry
wharfs with
jetties for direct rail track access to the ferries. The
track gauge for the transported
railway wagons is . In 2018, two of the railroad wharfs at the ports of Port Bell and Mwanza were in use. The train ferries connect the
Uganda Railway at Port Bell in Uganda with the
Central Line at Mwanza in Tanzania. The Central Line is linked to the
Indian Ocean port of
Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to transport freight to and from world markets. The rail jetties at Kisumu and at Musoma connect to railyards in the port area - but these are rarely in use as there are no operational railways in the hinterland. Typical journey times were 13 hours between Port Bell in Uganda and Kisumu in Kenya, and 19 hours between Port Bell and Mwanza in Tanzania.
The most important Lake Victoria port is Mwanza in Tanzania not only because of the port infrastructure, rail and road access to the Indian Ocean but also because of major pieces of facilities for ferry operation, service and construction. Dedicated
dry docks for ferry repairs exist in or near Mwanza, Kisumu and Port Bell, but only the dry docks in Mwanza are thoroughly used. The industry for Lake Victoria has moved here.
Ferries
The first ferry on Lake Victoria started operation in 1900 during the
colonial era and the rule of the
British Empire at the port of Kisumu. The original steamboats were later replaced by motor ships, some of them still operate on the lake. Almost all ferries (trains, cargo, passenger) in operation at the end of the 20th century were decades old. In 2018, most of them are still in operation. Newer 21st century-built ferries make up the majority of all ferries on Lake Victoria as of 2018. The number of ferries known to be in commercial operation amount to around 30 (in Tanzania), 5 (in Uganda) and 6 (in Kenya).
The largest ferries for the transport of cargo on Lake Victoria are the train ferries
MV Umoja,
MV Uhuru,
MV Kaawa and
MV Pemba. These are considered for international operation between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Each of them is able to transport 1180 tonnes of goods or 22 long rail waggons in four lanes (four tracks). In 2018, MV
Umoja and MV
Kaawa were in use between Port Bell and Mwanza, the two ferries
MV Pemba and MV Uhuru
were suspended. The largest passenger ship on Lake Victoria is MV Victoria, a vessel which can transport up to 1200 passengers. These five vessels are between 30-60 years old and state-owned.
New Ro-Pax and Ro-Ro multipurpose ferries are constantly going into operation in the 21st century, built and assembled in Mwanza in Tanzania. These new ferries were growing in size and capacity over the years with the newest additions coming close to the capacity of the older large train ferries. Two new Tanzanian state-owned Ro-Pax ferries, MV
Misungwi (2016) and MV
Mwanza (2018), can transport up to 1000 passengers including up to 36 cars or up to 250 tonnes of cargo. The largest privately-owned ferry on Lake Victoria is a new Tanzanian Ro-Pax ferry from 2016, the MV
Nyehunge II with a transport capacity of 284 tonnes of goods or 40 cars and 500 passengers.
Apart from the motor vessels listed below, two steam ships more than 100 years old are reported to be still present on Lake Victoria in 2018:
SS Nyanza and
SS Rusinga. Both are in private hands, at least SS
Nyanza is suspended from operation in 2018.
Motor Vessels on Lake Victoria (2018)
The 20th century ferries have almost entirely been designed and built outside Africa, mostly in the UK and Germany but were assembled at Lake Victoria from pre-assembled parts. Most of the ferries delivered to several operators around Lake Victoria in the 21st century however have been designed and built in Tanzania through construction firms with
dockyards and floating
dry docks located at Mwanza port. Most new ro-ro ferries on Lake Victoria have been built by local
Songoro Marine Transport Ltd, a company with construction services in Mwanza. Outside Mwanza, a new Kenyan company based in Kisumu,
Globology Ltd, is planning to build and to operate up to 15 passenger-only
catamaran passenger ferries until 2020.
Ferry history
Uganda Railway steamers
The original ships serving the
Uganda Railway were built in the
United Kingdom as "knock down" ships; that is, they were bolted together, all the parts marked with numbers, disassembled into thousands of parts, transported in kit form by sea to
Mombasa and by railway to Kisumu and reassembled.
SS William Mackinnon was built for the
Imperial British East Africa Company in 1890 by
Bow, McLachlan and Company at
Paisley in
Scotland but not launched at Kisumu until 1900. In the
First World War, she was armed as a
gunboat. In 1929, she was withdrawn from service, taken into deep water and
scuttled.
The
sister ships SS Winifred and
SS Sybil were built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1901.
Winifred was launched on the lake in 1902 followed by
Sybil in 1903. In the
First World War East African Campaign, they were armed as gunboats. In 1914,
Sybil was beached after striking a rock but she was refloated in 1915 and refitted and returned to service in 1916. In 1924,
Sybil was converted into a
lighter.
Winifred was purposely sunk in 1936 to form a breakwater off Luamba Island. Her remains were scrapped in 1954. In the 1950s,
Sybil sank at her moorings but she was raised, restored as a passenger and cargo vessel, and in 1956 re-entered service. In 1967,
Sybil was purposely sunk at Kisumu to form a breakwater.
SS Clement Hill was built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1905. She served on the lake from 1907 to 1935. In 1936 she was purposely sunk at
Bukakata to form a breakwater.
SS Nyanza is a
cargo steamer built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1907. She was reported to be laid up as of 2007.
SS Kavirondo is a
tugboat built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1912 and launched at Kisumu in 1913. During the First World War, she served as a gunboat. In about 1984, she was laid up at Kisumu and later was used as an accommodation vessel. She later sank alongside, but in 2005 was raised. Her purchasers intended to lengthen and re-engine her for use as a
tanker.
The sister ships
SS Rusinga and
SS Usoga were built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1913 and launched on the lake in 1914 and 1915, respectively. They were
troop ships during the First World War East African Campaign and passed into civilian service after the
Armistice. EAR&H withdrew
Rusinga for scrap in 1966, but she passed into private ownership and in 2005 was still in service.
Usoga was laid up in 1975, sank at her moorings at Kisumu in the 1990s, and as of 2006 her remains were still there.
SS Buganda and
SS Buvuma were tugboats built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1925. In the 1980s,
Buvuma was laid up and sank at her jetty.
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