MPUNGU

MPUNGU embarked on maiden voyage across Lake Victoria

On 10 January 2025, MPUNGU embarked on its maiden voyage to Mwanza across the waters of Lake Victoria between Port Bell in Uganda and Mwanza South Port in Tanzania. Entebbe shipbuilding facility of SECO Marine (U) Ltd. built the vessel for East Africa Marine Transport (EAMT) with contributing support from OSK Design.

Commissioned by InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and regional logistics company, Grindrod Limited (Grindrod), the 96m long vessel has the capacity to handle up to 1,000 tonnes of containerized cargo, the equivalent of 21 trailers. EAMT also benefitted from a European Union-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-AITF) grant for market and technical studies as well as for legal and regulatory support.

Grindrod will operate the EAMT vessel, offering freight carriers access to a safe, scheduled freight service between Uganda and Tanzania. The EAMT vessel will cross the lake in an anticipated time of 18 hours, compared with the current journey around the lake by congested regional roads which can take between three and four days.

As well as preventing spoilage of fresh produce, reduced journey times are expected to boost trade, supporting SDG 9.4.

MPUNGU has been classified by Bureau Veritas, been built to the highest international standards and will operate in compliance with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards for safety of life at sea (SOLAS) and security of shipping and the prevention of pollution by ships (MARPOL).

Jan 23 2025