Sailors warned as strong winds blow over Lake Victoria

The Marine Police have advised sailors to take precautionary measures to avoid water accidents as strong winds and large waves persist on Lake Victoria. 

Water transport is usually risky during the period between March to August as a result of strong winds and turbulent waves on the lake. But due to climate change strong winds these days strike regularly throughout the year, especially at night.

According to Mr Jonathan Amanya, the commandant of marine operations in Kalangala Islands, some sailors use obsolete, unlicensed or uninsured boats while some travellers do not wear safety gear life jackets, putting their lives at risk. Currently, waves on the lake are ranging between 6-7m high, according to Mr Amanya.

“I pass a serious warning to reckless travelers and vessel owners who do not comply with the safety standards. We have strong waves on the lake, those who can, it is better they postpone the non-essential trips to any destination on water,” Mr Amanya said on Wednesday

 Mr Amanya said residents on islands, fishermen and the whole maritime industry must be on high alert because strong winds may lead to drowning as well as blowing off roofs of houses. The leading causes of drowning, according to Mr Amanya include; bad weather, overloading and the poor state of the vessels.

“We cannot wait to lose lives, we are acting now, our teams are making surveillance on the lake to ensure that all sailors adhere to the set standards,” he added.

Marine units in areas of Entebbe and Kalangala are stationed at major docking sites like Kasenyi, Lutoboka, Nakiwogo and Kitobo to maintain law and order on the water as well as monitoring and coordinating rescue operations.

However, skippers using obsolete boats dodge such landing sites. Mr Deus Kalwanyi, one of the trained divers under the Uganda Red Cross Emergency Response team in Kalangala said it is very rare to find fishermen putting on lifejackets even when it is emphasised by the authorities all the time.

Mr Joseph Byaruhanga, the Kalangala District environment and forestry officer attributes the current massive strong winds on the lake to uncontrolled cutting down of forests on the islands, which could work as windbreakers.

“The strong winds that started in early June have kept on raising waves on Lake Victoria every other day and we really don’t know when they will end,” he said.

Uganda’s water transport is largely unregulated which has continuously resulted to many fatal boat accidents due to unchecked overloading, sailing on undesignated routes and use of defective boats and canoes. 

Statistics from Lake Victoria Basin Commission reveal that 5,000 people die yearly in Lake Victoria as a result of drowning.