MV Victoria (1959)
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= MV Victoria.jpg |Ship caption= Victoria anchored in Bukoba, Tanzania in 2012. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header = |Ship country = Kenya Colony |Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|British East Africa}} |Ship name = RMS Victoria |Ship owner = |Ship registry = Kisumu |Ship route = around Lake Victoria |Ship ordered = |Ship builder = Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited{{cite web |url= http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&a1Page=9&ref=23130&vessel=VICTORIA |title=Victoria |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |accessdate=26 October 2020}} |Ship original cost = |Ship way number = |Ship laid down = |Ship launched = *1959 (Paisley); |Ship christened = |Ship acquired = |Ship commissioned = 22 July 1961 |Ship maiden voyage = |Ship in service = |Ship out of service = |Ship identification = |Ship fate = |Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career |Ship country=Kenya |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Kenya}} |Ship name= Victoria |Ship registry = Kisumu |Ship acquired= |Ship fate=Transferred to Tanzania }} {{Infobox ship career |Ship country=Tanzania |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Tanzania}} |Ship operator = Marine Services Company Limited |Ship registry = Mwanza |ship route = Mwanza – Bukoba |Ship name= Victoria |Ship acquired = 1977 |Ship status = In service }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header = |Header caption = |Ship class = |Ship type = Ferry |Ship displacement = |Ship length = {{cvt|261.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam = {{cvt|40.0|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height = {{cvt|13.0|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught = {{cvt|8.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship depth = |Ship decks = |Ship deck clearance = |Ship ramps = |Ship power = |Ship propulsion = *twin Crossley diesel engines, |Ship speed = {{cvt|13.5|kn|km/h|0}} |Ship capacity =*originally:
|Ship crew = |Ship notes = }} |
MV Victoria is a Lake Victoria ferry operated by the Marine Services Company Limited of Tanzania.
Until Kenyan independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 she was the Royal Mail Ship RMS Victoria.{{cite web |url=http://www.mccrow.org.uk/eastafrica/eastafricanrailways/MarineDivision/EARLakes.htm |title=Marine Services |last=McCrow |first=Malcolm |date= |work=East African Railways and Harbours |publisher=Malcolm McCrow |accessdate=2011-05-17}} She then operated under the Kenyan flag until 1977, when she was transferred to Tanzania.
Building
Victoria was built as a "knock-down" ship. Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited built her at Scotstoun, Glasgow, then dismantled her in June 1959. She was then exported in 1,500 crates via Mombasa to Kisumu on Lake Victoria, where her reassembly was begun in December 1959 and she was launched on 5 September 1960.
She was handed over to the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H) on 26 June 1961 and commissioned in 22 July. When the ship was commissioned Elizabeth II granted her the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) designation: the only EAR&H ship to receive this distinction.
Service
When commissioned in 1961, Victoria had capacity for 230 passengers and 200 tons of freight and had refrigeration for perishable cargo.{{cite news |title=Gazette Notice No 3467; East Africa Railways & Harbours; Amendments to Tariff Book No 3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CEyq-iw1WQAC&q=%22RMS+Victoria%22+%22Kenya+Gazette%22&pg=PA857 |newspaper=Kenya Gazette |volume=LXIII |date=1961-07-18 |accessdate=2011-05-18}} She took over the EAR&H's circular service around the ports of Lake Victoria, halving the total journey time to two and a half days which enabled her to serve all ports on the lake twice a week. EAR&H accordingly introduced new fares for passengers and rates for different classes of freight on her.
In 1977 EAR&H was divided between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and Victoria was transferred to the new Tanzania Railways. In 1997 TRC's inland shipping division became a separate company, the Marine Services Company Ltd.{{cite web |url=http://mscltz.com/ |title=Home |publisher=Marine Services Company Limited |accessdate=2011-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910031156/http://www.mscltz.com/ |archive-date=10 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}
Victoria was refurbished and due to return to service between Bukoba and Mwanza in June 2020.{{cite web |url= https://dailynews.co.tz/news/2020-06-295ef97cc01adfb.aspx |last1=Mulisa |first1=Meddy |last2=Sanga |first2=Alex |title=It's all smile as MV Victoria bounces back to business |work=Daily News |date=29 June 2020}}{{cite web |url= https://www.habarileo.co.tz/habari/2020-08-105f30dc1a3a08f.aspx |last=Kamagi |first=Deogratius |title=PM demands swift licensing of MV Victoria |work=Habari Leo |date=10 August 2020}} The vessel started servicing the Mwanza-Bukoba route as planned in August 2020 under the name "New Victoria".{{cite web |url= https://dailynews.co.tz/news/2020-08-285f491d6dbc5e5 |last1=Kamala |first1=James |title=Break of dawn as New Victoria swings into action |work=Daily News |date=29 August 2020}}
After a scheduled annual inspection in September 2021 the ship resumed operations one month later. {{cite web |url= https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/-relief-as-mv-victoria-starts-services-again-3582930 |last1=Kaitira |first1=Mgongo |title= Relief as MV Victoria starts services again |work=The Citizen |date=14 October 2021}}
References
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Category:Passenger ships of Kenya