Illala will be back soonest, promises Malawi Shipping Company
Malawi Shipping Company (MSC) says it will expeditiously work hard to bring back on the waters of Lake Malawi the Ilala which it termed as a Pride of Malawi.
The Ilala lost power in one of its two newly installed engines on Tuesday December 3 miles away from the Nkhatabay port on its route to Chizumulu and Likoma Islands.
Although engineers from the company suggested that the vessel could complete the round trip to Chizumulu and Likoma Island as earlier indicated, the management decided to withdraw the vessel and get both engines in superb condition.
“We would like to mention that this technical fault did not put at risk the safety of our passengers and cargo as Communications, Power and Safety requirements at the vessel were and are fully functional and observed as required by the rules and regulations of sailing,” said Carlos Mendes General Manager of Malawi Shipping Company in a statement made available to Nyasa Times.
He said, MSC was working on modalities to assign another vessel to service the areas of Chizumulu, Likoma and Nkhatabay “while our suppliers of the new engines rectify the fault as soon as possible.”
MV Ilala is one of the longest serving vessels on the Lake Malawi, it attracts overseas tourists who fall in love sailing on open top of the ship which gives them a clear beautiful of the Lake of Stars.
It is also a main source of affordable transport on the lake connecting people and businesses between Nkhatabay and the Islands of Chizumulu and Likoma.
MSC took over a 20 year concession to operate the services on the lake from the doldrums of poor functioning under government.
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