Govt abandons Kabalega ship search
<i>MV Kabalega</i>, the ship which sunk into Lake Victoria two years ago, will not be retrieved from the waters.
By Steven Candia
MV Kabalega, the ship which sunk into Lake Victoria two years ago, will not be retrieved from the waters.
The Minister of Works, John Nasasira, said the Government abandoned the plan to salvage the ferry over costs.
“We did a cost-benefit analysis and decided to abandon the whole project because it was too costly.â€
Sub-Tech Diving and Marine, a South African firm which specialises in salvage operations, had offered to retrieve the ferry from the lake for $4.5m.
The minister explained: “We also do not know the nature and extent of the damage on the ferry. Given that a new ferry of that kind costs about $15m, we decided to call it off.â€
The ferry belonged to the Uganda Railways Corporation, which is now managed by the Rift Valley Railways.
Nasasira noted that if the new concessionaires of the corporation wanted to go ahead with the salvage operation, there was no objection.
He revealed that the focus was now on having MV Pamba and MV Kaawa repaired and insured.
In 2005, the Government, asked Sub-Tech to negotiate the possibility of retrieving the sunken ferry after its divers located it at the bottom of the lake.
There were also fears that constant silting of the lake was threatening to bury it.
The MV Kabalega was sailing from Port Mwanza in Tanzania when it sunk 150 feet deep into the lake after it collided with the MV Kaawa on May 8, 2005.
The disaster led to the grounding of the two ships. A commission of inquiry into the accident blamed it on gross negligence.
MV Kabalega, the ship which sunk into Lake Victoria two years ago, will not be retrieved from the waters.
The Minister of Works, John Nasasira, said the Government abandoned the plan to salvage the ferry over costs.
“We did a cost-benefit analysis and decided to abandon the whole project because it was too costly.â€
Sub-Tech Diving and Marine, a South African firm which specialises in salvage operations, had offered to retrieve the ferry from the lake for $4.5m.
The minister explained: “We also do not know the nature and extent of the damage on the ferry. Given that a new ferry of that kind costs about $15m, we decided to call it off.â€
The ferry belonged to the Uganda Railways Corporation, which is now managed by the Rift Valley Railways.
Nasasira noted that if the new concessionaires of the corporation wanted to go ahead with the salvage operation, there was no objection.
He revealed that the focus was now on having MV Pamba and MV Kaawa repaired and insured.
In 2005, the Government, asked Sub-Tech to negotiate the possibility of retrieving the sunken ferry after its divers located it at the bottom of the lake.
There were also fears that constant silting of the lake was threatening to bury it.
The MV Kabalega was sailing from Port Mwanza in Tanzania when it sunk 150 feet deep into the lake after it collided with the MV Kaawa on May 8, 2005.
The disaster led to the grounding of the two ships. A commission of inquiry into the accident blamed it on gross negligence.