Lake Victoria ferries
Lake Victoria ferries are motor ships for ferry services carrying freight and/or vehicles and/or passengers between Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya on Lake Victoria.
Operating ferries on Lake Victoria are mostly Ro-Pax ferries for the simultaneous transport of passengers, vehicles and goods. Some other ferries are dedicated train ferries, Ro-Ro ferries and cargo ships, as well as catamarans for passenger transport.
For most of the 20th century, Lake Victoria ferries were international ferries operating clockwise or counterclockwise around Lake Victoria. In the 21st century, ferries are mostly operating domestically within the borders of Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania and between mainland ports and Lake Victoria islands.
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 of Kisumu, Port Bell, Musoma and Mwanza allow dedicated train ferries to dock at railway ferry wharves with jetties for direct rail track access to the ferries. The track gauge for the transported railway wagons is. In 2018, two of the railway wharves, at Port Bell and Mwanza, were in use. The train ferries connect the Uganda Railway at Port Bell with the Tanzanian Central Line at Mwanza. The Central Line is linked to the Tanzanian Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam to transport freight to and from world markets. The rail jetties at Kisumu and Musoma connect to railyards in the port areas, but these are rarely used as there are no operational railways in their hinterlands. Typical journey times were 13 hours between Port Bell and Kisumu, and 19 hours between Port Bell and Mwanza.
The most important Lake Victoria port by far is Kisumu not only because of the port infrastructure, rail and road access to the Indian Ocean but also because of major facilities for ferry operation, service and construction. Dedicated dry docks for ferry repairs exist in or near Mwanza, Kisumu and Port Bell, but only those in Kisumu are consistently used.
Ferries History
The first ferry on Lake Victoria started operation in 1900s during the British colonial era, from the port of Kisumu. The original steamboats were later replaced by motor ships, some of which still operate on the lake. Almost all ferries in operation at the end of the 20th century were decades old. In 2018, most of them were still in operation. Newer 21st century-built ferries made up the majority of all ferries on Lake Victoria as of 2018. The number of ferries known to be in commercial operation in 2018 was about thirty in Tanzania, five in Uganda, and six in Kenya.The largest ferries for the transport of cargo on Lake Victoria are the train ferries,, and engaged in international services between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Each of them is able to transport 1180 tonnes of goods or 22 long rail waggons in four lanes. In 2018, Umoja and Kaawa were in use between Port Bell and Mwanza, but the two ferries Pemba and Uhuru were suspended. The largest passenger ship on Lake Victoria is MV Victoria, 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 have continued to come into operation in recent years, built and assembled in Mwanza in Tanzania. These ferries have increased in size and capacity over the years, with the newest additions coming close to the older large train ferries. Two new Tanzanian state-owned Ro-Pax ferries, Misungwi and Mwanza, can each 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 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, both in private hands: and, though Nyanza is suspended from operation in 2018.
| Country | Operator | List of Vessels, in operation or in |
| Tanzania | TEMESA | |
| Tanzania | Marine Services Company Limited | |
| Tanzania | Nyehunge IT Support Ltd | |
| Tanzania | Kamanga Ferry Ltd | |
| Uganda | Earthwise Ferries Ltd | |
| Uganda | Uganda Railways Corporation | |
| Uganda | Kalangala Infrastructure Services Ltd | |
| Uganda | Nation Oil Distributors Ltd | MV Kalangala |
| Kenya | Kenya Railways Corporation | |
| Kenya | Mbita Ferries Ltd | |
| Kenya | Globology Ltd |
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.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.
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.
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 and 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.
and were steamers built by Bow, McLachlan & Co in 1925. In the 1980s, Buvuma was laid up and sank at her jetty. Buganda later became additional accommodation at the Mwanza's Hotel Tilapia, where she remains.
East African Railways and Harbours motor vessels
was built in 1959 by Yarrow Shipbuilders at Scotstoun and reassembled for the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation ship at Kisumu in 1961. When the ship was commissioned, Queen Elizabeth II granted her the "Royal Mail Ship" designation: the only EAR&H ship to receive this distinction. However, since Kenya's independence from the UK, she has operated as MV Victoria.The train ferries and are sister ships built by Yarrow in 1965. Kenya operated Uhuru, but she has been suspended from service since 2007.
By 1970, the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation operated regular sailings clockwise around the lake from Kisumu, using rail ferries that carried rail wagons loaded directly from rail tracks extended on the jetties at Kisumu, Port Bell and Mwanza. The rail network linked to the Indian Ocean ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam which allowed countries of the African interior such as Uganda and Rwanda to transport freight to and from world markets. 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.
In 1977 EARH was dissolved and its assets divided between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Uhuru was transferred to the new Kenya Railways Corporation and Umoja and Victoria to the new Tanzania Railways Corporation. In 1978, the new Uganda Railways Corporation purchased three train ferries from Belgium, MV Pemba, MV Kaawa and MV Kabalega. However their production was interrupted by the war between Uganda and Tanzania that broke out in October 1978 and ended in April 1979. The ferries were assembled after the war at Port Bell and launched in 1983. TRC's Marine Division introduced the ferry in about 1979 and the passenger and cargo ship in 1988.
In 1997, the Marine Division of TRC became a separate company, the Marine Services Company Limited, whose fleet includes Serengeti, Umoja, and Victoria.