It was commissioned two years after the Titanic and now the World’s oldest ship, MV Liemba which has been operating on Lake Tanganyika for over 120 years now, is being rehabilitated.
Tanzania, which owns the vessel, handed over ‘Liemba’ the old passenger ship to the Croatian firm of M/S Brodosplit JSC for the ship to undergo serious repairs and face lift.
Brodosplit will work alongside the Dar es Salaam Merchant Group (DMG) to give Liemba a new lease of life.
MV Liemba, a former German Imperial Navy ship, Graf Goetzen, which is still actively in operation, will be repaired at the cost of over 33bn/-.
The vessel that can carry 200 tons and 600 passengers usually serves the Lake Tanganyika ports of Kigoma in Tanzania, Kalemi of DR Congo and Mpulungu, Zambia, sailing the world’s second deepest Lake since 1915.
It will take two consecutive years to repair the ship with the works starting in July 2024 all the way to sometime in August 2026.
The Kigoma District Commissioner Salum Kalli who officially handed over the project to the contractors called for timely completion of the works.
Rayton Kwembe from the Dar es Salaam Merchant Group (DMG), has promised to work diligently and complete the project within the stipulated 24 months.
“Our work will be of high-quality undertaken in collaboration with the main contractor from Croatia, M/S Brodosplit JSC,” he stated.
He added that once done, the Liemba will spot a new modern look.
Speaking on behalf of the Shipping Services Company Limited, Allen Mtembelo, pointed out that Liemba was an important component of trade and communication on Lake Tanganyika.
On his part the M/S Brodosplit JSC Managing Director Radovan Nacinovic insisted that the firm was aware of the importance of the project and therefore it was vital for them to have the ship back on water in time.
Project Manager Engineer Elias John Kivala said in order for the project to be realized in time, people will be working on MV Liemba for 24 hours and Seven Days non-stop.