MV Umoja

The MV Umoja is a ferry that serves Lake Victoria in Africa. It is best known for having been featured in a book by Paul Theroux and for several recent accidents.

The "Umoja" was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland in 1965 as a railway wagon ferry. It is presently owned by East African Railways and Harbours Corporation and its port of registry is Kisumu, Kenya, on Lake Victoria. It operates between Jinja, Mwanza, Musoma, and Kisumu along with its sister vessel the "Uhuru". "Umoja" means "unity" in the Swahili language.

In "Dark Star Safari", Theroux gives an account of a journey on Lake Victoria aboard the "Umoja", detailing the hazards from out-of-date charts and emphasising the friendliness and competence of the crew.

The Umoja struck rocks in 1990, 1996, and 2002. The 2002 accident caused $160,000 in damage [http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/11032002/Maritime/Maritime0.html] .

References

* cite web
last = Cameron
first = Stuart
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Umoja
work = Clyde-built Database
publisher =
date = 2004
url = http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1588
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-06-30

* cite book
last = Theroux
first = Paul
authorlink = Paul Theroux
coauthors =
title = Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town
publisher = Houghton Mifflin
year = 2003
location =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-618-13424-7

See also

* Lake Victoria ferries