History | |
---|---|
Kenya Colony | |
Name | RMS Victoria |
Port of registry | Kisumu |
Route | around Lake Victoria |
Builder | Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited[1] |
Yard number | 2165[1] |
Launched |
|
Completed | June 1961[1] |
Commissioned | 22 July 1961[1] |
History | |
Kenya | |
Name | Victoria |
Port of registry | Kisumu |
Fate | Transferred to Tanzania |
History | |
Tanzania | |
Name | Victoria |
Operator | Marine Services Company Limited |
Port of registry | Mwanza |
Acquired | 1977 |
Status | In service |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ferry |
Tonnage | 1,353 GRT[1] |
Length | 261.3 ft (79.6 m)[1] |
Beam | 40.0 ft (12.2 m)[1] |
Height | 13.0 ft (4.0 m)[1] |
Draught | 8.3 ft (2.5 m)[1] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 13.5 kn (25 km/h)[1] |
Capacity |
|
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.[3] She then operated under the Kenyan flag until 1977, when she was transferred to Tanzania.
Victoria was built as a "knock-down" ship. Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited built her at Scotstoun, Glasgow, then dismantled her in June 1959.[1] She was then exported in 1,500 crates via Mombasa[2] to Kisumu on Lake Victoria, where her reassembly was begun in December 1959 and she was launched on 5 September 1960.[1]
She was handed over to the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H) on 26 June 1961 and commissioned in 22 July.[1] When the ship was commissioned Elizabeth II granted her the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) designation: the only EAR&H ship to receive this distinction.[3]
When commissioned in 1961, Victoria had capacity for 230 passengers and 200 tons of freight[2] and had refrigeration for perishable cargo.[4] 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[2] 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.[4]
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.[5]
Victoria was refurbished and due to return to service between Bukoba and Mwanza in June 2020.[6][7] The vessel started servicing the Mwanza-Bukoba route as planned in August 2020 under the name "New Victoria".[8] After a scheduled annual inspection in September 2021 the ship resumed operations one month later. [9]