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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The East Africa Marine Transport (EAMT) has completed and deployed its first water vessel on Lake Victoria, between Kampala and Tanzania’s Mwanza Port.
M.V Mpungu, a roll-on/roll-off vessel has a capacity of 1000 tonnes, which experts equate to 21 freight trailers, a promise to be a game changer. She is 96 metres long, 17.5 metres long and not less than 18 metres high.
This brings the total number of large vessels on the route to three, including MV Pamba and MV Kaawa, which is currently docked for routine maintenance and repairs.
The vessel will also take a significant number of trailers off the road, as it can carry 19 trucks per trip.
A 25 million dollars project, including ship-building and training personnel, MV Mpungu was built in Uganda by regional shipbuilder, SECO Marine Uganda Ltd at Entebbe Shipbuilding Yard, and will be operated by EAMT, a joint venture of InfraCo Africa and Grindrod Ltd.
Being a roll-on/roll-off vessel and the first of its kind on the Lake, she enables trucks to drive on and off without the need for cranes to load and offload cargo, further cutting the time taken to move the cargo.
It is expected that the vessel will reduce the cargo time from three days to not more than 18 hours to move between Kampala and Mwanza, compared to the three to four days by trailers on the road, according to Xolani Mbambo, Chief Executive Officer, Grindrod.
The vessel will operate two scheduled weekly crossings between Uganda and Tanzania, with plans to expand routes to Kenya’s Kisumu port.
InfraCo is also the operator of the Kalangala Infrastructure Project which provides both cargo and passenger services between the mainland and islands of Lake Victoria.
Giles Vaes, PIDG Chief Investment and Project Development Officer, InfraCo, says this will lead to a transformation of not only water transport but markets generally across East Africa, as well as reduce carbon emissions.
State Minister for Works and Transport, Fred Byamukama expressed hope that this will also lead to lower costs of doing business by cutting transport costs and consequently reducing transport costs.
He assured that MV Mpungu has met all international standards for maritime, including safety standards, and acceded the standard travel time between Port Bell and Mwanza to 16 hours.
In a statement read by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, President Yoweri Museveni said trade between Uganda and Tanzania has been limited by the poor transport system, especially transportation of perishable goods without a direct flight around Lake Victoria.
Vineeth Venkiteswaran, Commercial Manager at logistics company, Suhara said this development is a sigh of relief for them as transporters because they have been, not only spending long days on the way, but also paying heftily to ship cargo into Uganda.
Suhara is an integrated logistics and supply chain solutions provider, offering services in freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing, and transport management operating across the Indian Ocean.
Venkiteswaran said he had already applied to use MV Mpungu, adding that he estimates the cost of water transport to be 40 to 50 percent lower than the trucks or road which he had been using, while rail transport is still too ineffective.
M.V. MPUNGU is designed to provide a greener, safer alternative to congested road freight, marking a breakthrough for businesses across Uganda, Tanzania, and beyond.
Built-in Uganda at a purpose-built facility, the project recently secured accreditation from FAST-Infra, an industry-led labelling system that measures and recognises sustainable infrastructure assets around the world.
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