Malawi Shipping Company unleashes $8.5m MV Chilembwe
Multinational conglomerate Mota Engil Group through its water transport shipping arm Malawi Shipping Company (MSC) has unveiled a multi-milion dollar state-of-the-art-Malawi-soil-built ship, MV Chilembwe.
The company took business journalists around its ship yard at Monkey Bay Port in Mangochi on Wednesday to appreciate the progress the company has made so far after being granted a concession to run water services on Lake Malawi in 2010.
“This is a happy moment for us Malawi Shipping Company, as investors and ofcourse for people of Malawi. The MV Chilembwe is a dream come true,” Carlos Mendes, General Manager for MSC told business journalists.
“One of the key requirements of the consession agreement signed between the Government of Malawi and the Malawi Shipping Company in 2010 was that the company should procure a new passenger vessel to operate on Lake Malawi to supplement the historic MV Ilala,” he added.
So what is special with the new MV Chilembwe?
Apart from being named after the Freedom fighter John Chilembwe, the ship has double the speed of MV Ilala, it is made of non-corrosive, alluminium material which makes it more varsetile to cut any water force.
The vessel has a capacity of carrying 120 lay back and comfortable passengers, six crew members and a compliment of 20metric tonnes of cargo.
It has fabulous tourist attraction facilities like cut-in bar, bird’s eye view tip front and eatery provisions.
At a whooping cost of K3.8billion ($8.5m) the assembly of the ship is currently going into final phases at the Monkey Bay Port in Mangochi and will be ready for first sail by end of May 2014.
Over 60 high skilled workers both local and international are accredited to the set up of this new beauty on the lake.
