Uganda resumes shipping petroleum through Port Bell after 16 years

Uganda on Wednesday resumed shipping petroleum products from Mwanza in Tanzania to Port Bell in Luzira, Kampala, after a period of 16 years.

Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) today received half a million litres of petroleum products through the Mwanza- Port Bell Luzira route.

The petroleum products were shipped from Mwanza Port in Tanzania to Port Bell in Luzira, Kampala, from where Uganda Railways wagons will pick it en route to the final destination.

“Today (July 7) the MV Kaawa ferry docked at Port Bell this morning with loaded fuel tanktainers from Mwanza,” URC said in a statement.

MV Kaawa is a ferry that is operated by URC on Lake Victoria.

The State Minister for Transport, Fred Byamukama, together with the Director of Transport, Benon Kajuna, officiated at the receipt of the fuel tanktainers at Port Bell in Luzira.

“The two also inspected the rehabilitation works on MV Pamba which are currently at 95%,” said the statement, which was also shared on social media.

The diesel cargo is the first in 17 years, and it is seen as a milestone in the promotion of marine transport in the East African region as well as revitalisation of the central corridor route.

The accident

In the early hours of May 8, 2005, MV Kaawa that was en route to Mwanza in Tanzania, was involved in a collision with MV Kabalega, which was en route to Port Bell.

MV Kaawa damaged her bow and Kabalega was damaged below the waterline. After the accident, MV Kaawa managed to return to Port Bell, but a few hours after the collision, MV Kabalega sank about eight (8) nautical miles (15km) southeast of the Ssese Islands.

URC's then chairman of the board of governors, Paul Etiang, admitted that marine insurance for MV Kaawa, and MV Kabalega and their sister ferry MV Pemba had expired in December 2004 and that they had not been renewed.

After the collision, MV Kaawa was withdrawn from service for repairs to her bow, and MV Pemba was suspended from service.

During the investigation, Stephen Kaliisa, one of the officers, who was watching MV Kaawa told Members of Parliament on a committee constituted to investigate the incident that the ferry had no navigation lights and one of her radars was missing.

The Maritime Convention requires that ships passing each other in opposite directions should pass on each other's starboard side. However, Kaliisa also told the committee that MV Kaawa had lacked a starboard navigation light "for a long time".