MV Kalangala doubles sailing trips as Christmas holiday starts
Starting December 22, 2022 MV Kalangala and MV NODL Victoria will be making three to four trips daily throughout the festive season as the number of travelers crossing to Kalangala Islands to celebrate Christmas increase. Photo/ Eve Muganga
MV Kalangala has added more sailing trips to their daily schedule as the number of travelers crossing to Kalangala Islands to celebrate Christmas increases, the operators of the vessel announced Thursday.
According to Mr Sadala Musoke, the chief executive officer Nation Oil Distributors Ltd, the firm that manages the vessel, the change in their sailing schedules will be in force starting December 22, 2022 until January 3, 2023.
“The Ministry of Works and Transport has already given us clearance to double the trips we make daily so that we help hundreds of travelers who plan to spend the festive season in the islands,” he said.
He said it’s probable they will be making three to four trips a day and sometimes night between Entebbe and Kalangala, depending on the number of travelers.
According to him, MV Kalangala will be reinforced with its sister vessel MV NODL Victoria.
"On December 22, MV NODL will leave Entebbe to Kalangala at 2:30pm while on December 23, the vessel will leave Kalangala to Entebbe at 9am and will leave Entebbe to Kalangala 2:30pm. On Christmas, we shall have a boat cruise," Mr Musoke added.
Usually, MV Kalangala makes a single daily return trip from Kalangala, starting at 8:30am to Nakiwogo in Entebbe where it docks at 11:30am. At around 2pm, it leaves Entebbe for Kalangala where it reaches at 5pm.
Despite the change in sailing schedules, Mr Musoke said the fares had remained the same but urged travelers to book early and also observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to curb the spread of Covid-19.
MV Kalangala is the only active vessel plying the Kalangala–Entebbe route currently. It has three classes with passengers in VIP paying Shs 20,000, First class part with Shs14, 000 while Ordinary class pay Shs10,000. However, the operators have fixed the fares for MV NODL Victoria at Shs 30,000.
