Islanders turn to risky canoes as MV Nathalie suspends operations

Travellers from the Kasenyi landing site in Wakiso District to sub-counties of Kyamuswa and Bubeke in the island district of Kalangala have resorted to using risky canoes as MV Nathalie goes for repair.

MV Nathalie, the only modern vessel plying the Kasenyi -Kyamuswa route last week suspended operations to undergo mandatory annual full maintenance.

Mr Cyrus Ssekimpuku, a resident of the Bubeke-Lwaazi landing site, says there is no better passenger vessel to use except the five wooden boats that ply the same route.

"We begin our journey at 2am moving to different landing sites looking for passengers and reach Kasenyi landing site at 10am yet MV Nathalie could take only one and half hours,” he said, adding “people who carry passengers on their shoulders to board these boats can't handle their weight and sometimes they end up falling into the water near the lake shores."

MV Nathalie started plying the Kasenyi-Kyamuswa route last November two months after a wooden passenger boat en route Kasenyi capsized near Nsazi Island killing at least 16 passengers.

"We are scared that we may have water accidents since there are currently turbulent waves on the lake that require a modern passenger boat,” Mr Salongo Kajiri, another resident of the Bubeke-Lwaazi landing site, said.

Mr Joshua Wafumbwa, a councillor representing Kyamuswa at Kalangala District said some islanders who fear using wooden boats for long routes currently sail to Buggala islands to board MV Kalangala and connect to Entebbe.

The Monitor has learnt that most of the wooden passenger boats don't comply with some maritime safety guidelines including the recommended passenger capacity, not travelling at night, and recording particulars of all passengers before setting off.

Mr Olivie Van Pie, the director of Nyanza Evergreen, a company managing MV Nathalie, said the vessel needed repair and they had no option but to withdraw it.

“Every after sailing for 200 hours, we have to do service and every after 500 hours we have to check the overall structure of the vessel. So, since the vessel had worked for six months on this route and the rest of two and four months on the Kalangala-Entebbe route, we had to make sure it's still safe for our customers," he said, adding: “However, by next week the ongoing repairs will be completed and the vessel will resume normal operations.”

Travellers using MV Nathalie from Kasenyi to Kyamuswa pay between Shs 15,000 and 30,000 compared to the wooden passenger boats which charge Shs40,000 per trip, the latter takes eight hours to connect to Kasenyi compared to 1 and a half hours of MV Nathalie.

By the time the vessel was taken for full maintenance, it had reduced the days it plies the route from six to only three days a week, which was partly blamed on reduced passenger volumes.

Kalangala has 64 inhabited islands but the majority of the vessels dock on Buggala, which is the district's main island.

There are two other water transport alternatives for passengers travelling to Kalagala Islands –one can use MV Kalangala or private small vessels like  SENCATA which ply the Nakiwogo-Lutoboka route daily or travel to Bukakkata, Masaka District by road and board MV Pearl or MV Ssese ferries that make several regular trips to Kalangala daily.