This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
Published on October 31, 2019, a parliamentary committee in Kenya has raised concerns over the safety of ferries operated by Kenya Ferry Services (KFS). The Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) is facing scrutiny for allowing KFS to continue operating old, unsafe ferries.
Top managers from KMA will appear before Parliament's Public Investments Committee (PIC) in Mombasa to explain why they certified KFS to operate the vessels despite safety concerns. KFS officials admitted to the parliamentary committee that they were allowed to operate three vessels that had been declared unseaworthy by Lloyd's Register in 2007.
International regulatory requirements bar ferries that are 30 years and older from being in operation. The three ferries under scrutiny are MV Harambee, MV Nyayo, and MV Kilindini.
PIC Chairman Abdulswamad Nassir said, "There are very serious issues that have come up concerning the safety of ferries. We want to know how KMA, as the regulator, allowed KFS to operate its vessels with glaring safety concerns."
Despite new regulations being introduced in 2016, giving new qualifications for coxswains, KMA has continued certifying KFS coxswains under old regulations adopted in the 1970s. KFS Managing Director Bakari Gowa admitted that none of the coxswains running the ferries meets the current requirements.
Mr. Gowa said KFS had even advertised for the position of a chief coxswain, but it is yet to be filled since there is no one qualified under the new regulations. In a report in 2016, former Auditor General Edward Ouko described the vessels as a "disaster in waiting".
