MV Pamba to resume operations next month

The new look of MV Pamba at Portbell Luzira. Engineers say repairs are now at 90 per cent. Photo |Joseph Kiggundu

What you need to know:

  • Mr Moses Muwonge, the chief engineer and manager of Mango Tree Group, a firm government contracted to carry out the repairs, said they are left with fitting the radars, shafts, and bearings.

The ongoing repairs on MV Pamba are nearing completion and the vessel is expected to resume normal operations next month, its engineers have revealed.

Mr Moses Muwonge, the chief engineer and manager of Mango Tree Group, a firm government contracted to carry out the repairs, said they are left with fitting the radars, shafts, and bearings.

MV Pamba, which collided with a wagon ferry, MV Kaawa in 2005, is being repaired at Port Bell, Luzira. Its resumption of operations is expected to boost wagon ferry transportation on Lake Victoria.

“We have done most of the heavy work. We have already installed the engines, generators, fire detectors among other equipment,” Eng. Muwonge said in an interview on Friday.

He, however, said the tugboat, which is grounded at Port Bell also requires repairing.

“The only tugboat we have in the country is also grounded. A vessel is not like a car which can be pushed by people on the road when it breaks down. A tugboat is needed to tow ships out of water when they develop problems,” he said.

Eng. Muwonge said they are waiting for government clearance to dredge the area around Port Bell where MV Pamba will be docking.

“The water here is very shallow. We need to deepen it through dredging. Fortunately, as Mango Tree Group, we own a dredger. Once the government clears it, we shall use it to clear the docking site,” the engineer said.

Government contracted Mango Tree Group to repair the vessel and the company will manage it until it recovers the money invested in it. An estimated Shs18b was budgeted for repairing MV Pamba which has the capacity to carry 22 wagons. Mango Tree Group is already managing vessels on Lake Tanganyika, River Congo and River Nile in South Sudan.

Mr Fan Shuchun, the chairperson Mango Tree Group said he is optimistic that works on MV Pamba will be completed in the agreed time frame.

“We have ordered some spare parts from Nairobi and by the end of June everything will be complete and the vessel will be back on water,” he said.

Ms Joy Kabatsi, the outgoing state minister for transport, said yesterday that government’s plan is to have all grounded wagon ferries operational.

“MV Kaawa is already operational though currently under mandatory survey and repair at Port Bell Pier. Plans are also underway to retrieve MV Kabalega which sunk in Lake Victoria in 2005,” she said, adding that plans are also underway to repair the tugboat.

Currently, Uganda boasts of about 10 inland ferries, three wagon ferries, about two private ferries operated by private companies, and ships among others. The operational inland ferries include; the Masindi ferry plying Masindi-Lango route, Nakiwogo ferry plying Mpigi-Entebbe route, Buvuma ferry, Bukakata-Kalangala ferry, Kiyindi-Buvuma ferry and Lake Bisina in Soroti, all of which are controlled by Uganda National Roads Authority and Office of the Prime Minister.

Other national water vessels managed by the Ministry of Works through Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) include Wagon ferries—1200 tonnes capacity, MV Kaawa that was launched in 2012. The other is MV Kalangala. The other wagon still grounded is MV Kabalega which the government said is yet to be retrieved or replaced to increase the capacity of carriage.