All 5 Ferries Plying Likoni Channel Unsafe and Dangerous - Report

All 5 Ferries Plying Likoni Channel Unsafe and Dangerous – Report

By Soko Directory Team / Published October 30, 2019 | 6:43 am

The Kenya Maritime Authority(KMA) deliberately ignored orders by an International maritime body and allowed some unseaworthy ferries to operate.

KMA allowed three ferries to run operations even after Lloyd’s Register Group, a global organization that provides assurance for high-risks businesses declared them unseaworthy.

Five unseaworthy ferries are being operated by the Kenya Ferries Services, including the one that was involved in the tragic incident where a mother and her child drowned after their car slipped into the ocean.

According to the Kenya Maritime Policy, a ferry should be operational for a period of about ten years and after that, it is considered risky and unfit to operate.

Three of the ferries; MV Harambee, MV Nyayo and MV Kilindini have operated for more than 30 years which is past the stipulated period required by the KMA.

After Lloyd’s delisted the three ferries from operations, Kenya withdrew from the regulator and joined the local and friendly bodies.

some of the helmsmen who operate the ferries at the sea are not qualified and or even certified by Lloyd’s to steer the vessels.

Only one of the coxswains is allowed to steer the ferries with the others operating with outdated certificates that were approved in the 1970s.

The Kenya Ferries Services Managing Director Bakari Gowa confirmed that indeed the vessels were unseaworthy but they were given a nod by KMA to continue with their operations.

“It is true that Lloyd’s Group declared our vessels unseaworthy but the KA cleared us after thorough inspection,” Said Gowa when he was summoned before the National Assembly Public Investment Committee.

The government has spent around 850 million shillings to repair the worn-out ferries, which was a lot of money which could be used to buy a new ferry.

The committee advised the KMA management to crack the whip on its officials and ensure sanity is restored at the sea services.

“Now that President Uhuru Kenyatta has cracked the whip by sacking the board, the management should follow suit,” said the committee.

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