MV Kalangala cleared to make more trips during festive season
Starting Saturday (December 22) MV Kalangala will be making four trips daily throughout the festive season to handle volumes of travelers crossing to Kalangala Islands to celebrate Christmas. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Usually, MV Kalangala plies only two routes from Kalangala, starting at 8:30am to Nakiwogo in Entebbe where it docks at 11am. At around 2pm, it leaves Entebbe for Kalangala where it reaches at 5pm.
- But under the new arrangement, Mr Musoke said the vessel will be leaving Lutoboka at exactly 7am to Nakiwogo pier where it will dock at 10:30am. At 11:30am, the vessel will leave Nakiwogo for Lutobaka where it will dock at 2:30pm and again leave Lutoboka at 3pm for Nakiwogo.
ENTEBBE. Starting Saturday (December 22) MV Kalangala will be making four trips daily throughout the festive season to handle volumes of travelers crossing to Kalangala Islands to celebrate Christmas, operators of the vessel have announced .
According to Mr Sadala Musoke, the chief executive officer Nation Oil Distributors Ltd, the firm that manages the vessel on behalf of government, they have already notified Ministry of Works about the change in the vessel’s sailing schedules and they have been given a go-ahead.
“They (ministry of Works) have already given us a go-ahead to increase on the trips we make daily so that we help hundreds of travellers who plan to spend the festive season in the islands,” he said during an interview on Friday evening.
Usually, MV Kalangala plies only two routes from Kalangala, starting at 8:30am to Nakiwogo in Entebbe where it docks at 11am. At around 2pm, it leaves Entebbe for Kalangala where it reaches at 5pm.
But under the new arrangement, Mr Musoke said the vessel will be leaving Lutoboka at exactly 7am to Nakiwogo pier where it will dock at 10:30am. At 11:30am, the vessel will leave Nakiwogo for Lutobaka where it will dock at 2:30pm and again leave Lutoboka at 3pm for Nakiwogo.
“This arrangement will remain in force until January 4 and we urge our clients to plan well and follow the changes,” Mr Musoke said.
Despite the change in sailing schedules, Mr Musoke said the fares had remained the same but urged travellers to book early.
“There are many people who want to travel and early booking will help us plan well. We are licensed to carry only 100 passengers per trip and we shall stick to that," he said.
MV Kalangala is the only active vessel plying the Kalangala-Entebbe route. It has three classes with passengers in VIP paying (Shs20, 000), first class (Shs14, 000) and ordinary class (Shs10, 000).
Currently, government is in final stages of procuring another vessel which will only be carrying passengers from Entebbe to Kalangala. The new vessel, expected in the country soon, will be spending less than 2 hours to sail from Nakiwogo in Entebbe to Kalangala Islands and due to its high speed. It will sometimes be used during rescue operations, according to Mr Musoke.
