MV Mwongozo
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= MV Mwongozo.jpg |Ship image size=300px |Ship caption= MV Mwongozo anchored at Kigoma Port }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship country=Tanzania |Ship flag=Image:Flag of Tanzania.svg |Ship name= MV Mwongozo |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=1979{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} |Ship completed= 1982{{cite web |url=http://mscltz.com/preview_015.htm |title=MV. Mwongozo |author= |date= |work=Vessels |publisher=Marine Services Company Limited |accessdate=25 June 2011}} |Ship sponsor= |Ship purchased= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= 1982 onwards |Ship out of service= |Ship operator= Marine Services Company Limited |Ship fate= |Ship struck= |Ship homeport= Kigoma, Tanzania |Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|7636523}} |Ship honors= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type= Ferry |Ship displacement= |Ship tonnage= 850 GRT |Ship length= {{convert|59.5|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|9.6|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= {{convert|2.5|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth of hold= |Ship propulsion= diesel |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship capacity=*800 passengers
|Ship complement= |Ship notes= |website = {{URL|http://www.sumatra.go.tz/}} }} |
MV Mwongozo is a mixed passenger and cargo ferry on Lake Tanganyika operated by the Marine Services Company Limited. She can carry up to 800 passengers and 80 tons of cargo. Her accommodation includes open sleeping areas, individual cabins and a passenger dining saloon. She can take cars and small trucks on her forward deck.
Mwongozo normally plies a daily route between Kigoma and Bujumbura. The journey takes about 14 hours. MSC's other Lake Tanganyika ferry, {{MV|Liemba}}, operates the route to Zambia.
History
Mwongozo was built by a Finnish company for the Tanzania Railways Corporation. Her original route was a weekly return route from Bujumbura, Burundi to Mpulungu, Zambia, calling at Kigoma, Tanzania and various small settlements along the Tanzanian coast of the lake.
In 1997 the UNHCR used Mwongozo and Liemba to transport more than 75,000 refugees, who had fled Zaire during the First Congo War, back to their homeland following the overthrow of longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
Also in 1997, TRC's inland shipping division became a separate company, the Marine Services Company Ltd.{{cite web |url=http://mscltz.com/ |title=Home |author= |date= |publisher=Marine Services Company Limited |accessdate=26 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910031156/http://www.mscltz.com/ |archive-date=10 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}
Regional instabilities during the early 2000s lead to an increase of piracy on Lake Tanganyika. In 2001 and 2002 Mwongozo was attacked twice by pirates resulting in thousands of dollars of loss to passengers and substantial damage to the hull, requiring extensive repairs.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} Service between Kigoma and Bujumbura was suspended for a year after the second attack.{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/14072003/Regional/Regional35.html |title=Unknown |last=Mgamba |first=Richard |date= |publisher=Nation Media Group |accessdate= |archive-date=2007-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092717/http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/14072003/Regional/Regional35.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/20072004/Regional/RegionalNews2.html |title=Unknown |last=Rwambali |first=Faustine |publisher=Nation Media Group |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015352/http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/20072004/Regional/RegionalNews2.html |archivedate=2007-09-30 }}
See also
References
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{{MSCL ships}}
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Category:Ships built in Tanzania
Category:Passenger ships of Tanzania
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