By GEORGE ODIWUOR

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East African countries sharing the Lake Victoria basin say they are addressing maritime safety issues in the wake of tragic accidents. 

Now through the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have raised $28 million towards a common policy on maritime safety.

The funds are meant to design, supply and commission navigation equipment within Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, according to officials at the Commission. 

Mr Amos Ndoto, the Head of maritime safety and security at LVBC said 86 aids to navigation equipment have already been installed in the three East African countries.

Aid to navigation equipment guide vessel operators on the direction they should take when in the lake to avoid collision on land or with other vessels.

Read (from the Archives): Lake Victoria gets navigation hotline to reduce accidents, deaths

Such equipment includes lighthouses, buoys, fog signals, and day beacons. Mr Ndoto said 18 aids to navigation equipment have been installed in Kenya at Kisumu, Homa Bay, Mbita Ferry jet and Luanda Kotieno in Siaya County.

In Uganda, 22 aids to navigation equipment were installed in Bukata, Luku, Port Bell, Entebee and Jinja jetties. Meanwhile Tanzania has 46 navigation installed.

They are in Musoma, Mwanza South Port, Mwanza North Port, Mwanza Mwaloni Jetties, Nansio Port, Sentry rock, Kigongoni Ferry Jetty, Kemondo bay and Bukoba Bay.

 Besides setting up the equipment, which is a long-term solution for accidents, LVBC has come up with short term measures to minimise accidents in the lake.

It includes supporting boat users in acquiring life jackets.

“Our short-term measures of reducing accidents in the lake include purchasing and distributing 600 lifejackets to local passengers across Lake Victoria to enhance safety of passengers who use open canoes,” Mr Ndoto said.

Agencies responsible for maritime safety have in the past raised concern about accidents in Lake Victoria. Several cases of accidents that resulted in deaths have been reported in the lake in the past years with all the three counties witnessing the worst disasters in history.

Some were caused by negligence by vessel operators while others were caused by nature including bad weather that results in difficulties in navigation.

In September 2018, a ferry, MV Nyerere, capsized as it was about to dock on Ukerewe in Tanzania.

At least 200 people died in the accident.

In the neighbouring Uganda, at least 31 people died when a boat capsized in Mukono district.

Read: Survivor recounts terror of Uganda party boat disaster

The accident occurred just two months after the one in Tanzania.

Meanwhile in Kenya, 10 people died in a boat accident in Homa Bay County in September 2021. 

The boat that had set sail from Koginga beach to Ndhuru beach capsized just a few meters from the shore.

It was established that the boat was overloaded as it carried construction material that made it unstable as it sailed in the lake.

Causes of some accidents were not conclusively determined.

In order to avoid similar accidents, LVBC seeks to support vessel operators using modern machinery for navigation.

Mr Ndoto said installation of the new navigation equipment will help in improving the safety of navigations of ships and boats across Lake Victoria.

“The main objective of the project is to promote increased transport and trade in Lake Victoria by improving maritime transport infrastructure including maritime communications, navigation safety aids and emergency search services,” he said.

Other long-term solutions for maritime accidents include construction of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) in Mwanza, Kisumu and Entebbe under the Multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communications and Transport (MLVMCT) Project.

Mr Ndoto said this project will also construct several Search and Rescues (SAR) centres across the lake.

Read: Deadliest ferry accidents of the past decade

“The project is still on-going and expected to be completed by the end of 2024,” he said.

The officer added that enactment of Lake Victoria Transport Act (2007) has also been implemented to ensure safety and security of Lake Transport.

The implementation of this regulatory framework is vested with the maritime administrative units in each partner state.

The East African Community council of ministers also jointly agreed to set up an emergency mobile number that can be used in case of any accident.

Mr Ndoto said the cost of the multinational Lake Victoria Communications Transport (MLVCMT) project is approximately $ 25 Million.

He said the project which is being implemented in Uganda and Tanzania aims at improving maritime infrastructure including maritime communications, navigation safety aids and maritime emergency and rescue services.

“The project will construct three maritime rescue coordination centres in Mwanza, Entebbe and Kisumu. We hope that the ongoing projects will be completed by December 2024,” Mr Ndoto said.

Meanwhile, LVBC called for a hydrographic survey of Lake Victoria to be conducted to come up with new navigational charts to be used by different lake users navigating across the lake.

The current navigational charts are very outdated as they were made in 1908 hence cannot be trusted for the safety of navigation in the lake.

Mr Ndoto said the new navigational charts will have significant positive impacts through safer navigation on transport, trade, economic integration, environment, and health aspects.