Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE country’s marine sector is headed for a brighter future with plans underway for construction of two large ships and renovation of the oldest ship-MV Liemba in Lake Tanganyika.
The government announced three tenders for construction and renovation of the ships yesterday that are expected to ply in Lake Tanganyika waters.
The renovation involves MV Liemba, which is one of the world’s oldest ships that fought World War I. The vessel is 105 years old.
The move is in line with the pledges made in the 2020-2025 ruling party-CCM Election manifesto to improve the marine sector by investing in the construction of ships, renovating the existing ones, improving the sector’s management and ensuring proper and profitable operations.
The tender has been announced through the Ministry of Works and Transport, through Marine Services Company Limited (MSCL).
According to the document, the government invites international tenders for designing, building, supplying and commissioning a new passenger and cargo vessel and another for a self-geared multipurpose cargo ship.
“MSCL now invites tender… for designing, building, supplying and commissioning of one passenger vessel of 600 passengers and 400 tonnage of cargo for operation on Lake Tanganyika,” the tender ads showed. Also MSCL called for tender to design and build a multipurpose cargo ship to also ply on Lake Tanganyika.
Although the tender notice did not mention the cost of building the two ships, it however, wants the winning bidder to demonstrate ability to finance a minimum of 30 million US dollars designing and building works.
During his election campaigns, President John Magufuli, pledged to build ships to ply on Lake Tanganyika to ease transport needs while also opening up cross-border trade with DRC and Burundi.
The government announced plans for the construction of a new ship with the capacity of carrying 600 passengers and 100 tonnes of cargo on the eastern side of Lake Tanganyika, supplementing duties carried out by the oldest ship, MV Liemba, which the government has also pledged to renovate.
MV Liemba was built in 1913 in Germany, and was one of the three vessels the German Empire used to control Lake Tanganyika during the early part of the First World War.
Her captain had her scuttled on 26 July 1916 in Katabe Bay during the German retreat from Kigoma. In 1924, a British Royal Navy salvage team raised her, and in 1927 she returned to service as MV Liemba.
Moreover, in strengthening water transport, in 2018, President John Magufuli witnessed the signing of contracts for construction of a new big ship and a slipway as well as renovation of vessels currently plying Lake Victoria in projects designed to contribute in making Mwanza a regional trade and transportation hub.
The projects worth 152.363bn/- included the construction of a new passenger ship with capacity to accommodate 1,200 passengers and 400 tonnes of cargo at a cost of 88.764bn/-, rehabilitation of MV Victoria at a tune of 22.712bn/-, and MV Butiama, which stopped operations since 2014, at a cost of 4.897bn/-.
In July, this year, residents of Kagera and Mwanza regions witnessed the floating of the ‘new Victoria ship’ after a year of renovation.
The ship is currently plying Mwanza – Kagera route with the successful journey taking approximately six hours. The inaugural journey from Mwanza to Bukoba Port marked the new dawn for residents of the two regions, who had eagerly waited for the ship for years.
The old MV Victoria was grounded in 2014 and it has been completely rehabilitated with new engines. The current is 45,000/- for first class, 30,000/- for business and 16,000/- for economy.
Children aged between 1-3 years are exempted from paying fares, while those aged between 3-12 years will pay half the normal rate.
Moreover, in September 2018, President Magufuli also ordered for the construction of a new ferry for the Ukerewe-Mwanza route.
The new ferry replaces MV Nyerere, which capsized the same year. In July, this year MV Rubondo ferry was launched in Geita Region.
Furthermore, the government through the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) has constructed three modern vessels that operate in Lake Nyasa.
The newly-constructed vessels are MV Mbeya II, with the capacity of carrying 200 passengers and 200 tonnes of cargo. Others are MV Njombe and MV Ruvuma- each costing 5.5bn/-and was completed in July 2017.
MV Ruvuma and MV Njombe have the capacity to carry 1000 tonnes of cargo each.
The coming of the vessels is expected to open up more economic and business opportunities for the three regions of Mbeya, Njombe and Ruvuma as well as neighbouring countries of Mozambique and Zambia.
