| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | MV Mtendere |
| Operator | Malawi Shipping Company |
| Port of registry |   Monkey Bay |
| Route | Monkey Bay - Chilumba |
| Status | out of service, stored in Monkey Bay |
| General characteristics | |
| Installed power | diesel |
| Propulsion | screw |
The MV Mtendere (Chichewa for 'peace') is a ferry, which used to serve passenger and cargo service on Lake Malawi. As of 2014 it was out of service and stored at the port of Monkey Bay with plans to break it up and recycle its parts. [1]
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi and formerly known as Nyasaland, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 21,240,689. Malawi's capital and largest city is Lilongwe. Its second-largest is Blantyre, its third-largest is Mzuzu, and its fourth-largest is Zomba, the former capital.
The history of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland. It becomes part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964. After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994.
The economy of Malawi is $7.522 billion by gross domestic product as of 2019, and is predominantly agricultural, with about 80% of the population living in rural areas. The landlocked country in south central Africa ranks among the world's least developed countries and poorest countries. Approximately 50% of the population lives below the national poverty line, with 25% living in extreme poverty.
Transportation in Malawi is poorly developed. The country of almost 14 million has 39 airports, 6 with paved runways and 33 with unpaved runways. It has 797 kilometres of railways, all narrow-gauge and about 45 percent of its roads are paved. Though it is landlocked, Malawi also has 700 km (435 mi) of waterways on Lake Malawi and along the Shire River.
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Nyasaland was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After the Federation was dissolved, Nyasaland became independent from Britain on 6 July 1964 and was renamed Malawi.
The British Central Africa Protectorate (BCA) was a British protectorate proclaimed in 1889 and ratified in 1891 that occupied the same area as present-day Malawi: it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. British interest in the area arose from visits made by David Livingstone from 1858 onward during his exploration of the Zambezi area. This encouraged missionary activity that started in the 1860s, undertaken by the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland, and which was followed by a small number of settlers. The Portuguese government attempted to claim much of the area in which the missionaries and settlers operated, but this was disputed by the British government. To forestall a Portuguese expedition claiming effective occupation, a protectorate was proclaimed, first over the south of this area, then over the whole of it in 1889. After negotiations with the Portuguese and German governments on its boundaries, the protectorate was formally ratified by the British government in May 1891.
Zomba is a city in southern Malawi, in the Shire Highlands. It is the former capital city of Malawi.
Nkhotakota (Un-kho-tah-kho-tuh) is a town and one of the districts in the Central Region of Malawi. It is on the shore of Lake Malawi and is one of the main ports on Lake Malawi. As of 2018, Nkhotakota had a population estimated at 28,350. The district had a population of 301,000.
Monkey Bay or Lusumbwe is a town in Mangochi which is in the Mangochi District in the Southern Region of Malawi. The town is on the shore of Lake Malawi and is one of the main ports on Lake Malawi. The population of Monkey Bay was 14,955 according to the 2018 census. Monkey Bay is 206 kilometres (128 mi) from Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city, and 253 kilometres (157 mi) from Blantyre. Monkey Bay is a tourist resort and is often travelled through on the road to Cape Maclear.
The African Lakes Corporation plc was a British company originally set-up in 1877 by Scottish businessmen to co-operate with Presbyterian missions in what is now Malawi. Despite its original connections with the Free Church of Scotland, it operated its businesses in Africa on a commercial rather than a philanthropic basis. It had political ambitions in the 1880s to control part of Central Africa and engaged in armed conflict with Swahili traders. Its businesses in the colonial era included water transport on the lakes and rivers of Central Africa, wholesale and retail trading including the operation of general stores, labour recruitment, landowning and later an automotive business. The company later diversified, but suffered an economic decline in the 1990s and was liquidated in 2007. One of the last directors of the company kindly bought the records of the company and donated them to Glasgow University Archive Services, where they are still available for research.
Lake Chilwa is the second-largest lake in Malawi after Lake Malawi. It is in eastern Zomba District, near the border with Mozambique. Approximately 60 km long and 40 km wide, the lake is surrounded by extensive wetlands. There is an island in the middle of the lake called Chisi Island. The lake has no outlet, and the level of water is greatly affected by seasonal rains and summer evaporation. In 1968, the lake disappeared during exceptionally dry weather. When David Livingstone visited the lake in 1859, he reported that its southern boundary reached as far as the Mulanje Massif, which would have made the lake at least 32 kilometres (20 mi) longer than it is today.
Malawi Railways was a government corporation that ran the national rail network of Malawi, Africa, until privatisation in 1999. With effect from 1 December 1999, the Central East African Railways consortium led by Railroad Development Corporation won the right to operate the network. This was the first rail privatisation in Africa which did not involve a parastatal operator.
MV Ilala, formally Ilala II, is a motor ferry that has plied Lake Malawi in East Africa since 1951. Every week she crosses the lake all the way north to Chilumba, Malawi, near Tanzania and then returns to Monkey Bay. She carries both passengers and freight, and calls at major towns on both the Malawian and Mozambican coast, as well as at two islands of the lake.
MV Chauncy Maples is a motor ship and former steamship that was launched in 1901 as SS Chauncy Maples. She spent her entire career on Lake Malawi and was regarded as the oldest ship afloat in Africa. After more than one hundred years' service it was intended to restore her for use as a floating medical clinic to support the several million lakeshore dwellers whose average life expectancy is 44 years. The Government of Malawi offered support for this in 2009 and charity fundraising was sufficient to make progress. The hull was found to be beyond repair at a viable cost so a more practical modern craft was proposed to give ambulance service around the lake.
Marine Services Company Limited (MSCL) is a Tanzanian company that operates ferries, cargo ships and tankers on three of the African Great Lakes, namely Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa. It provides services to neighbouring Burundi, DR Congo, Zambia and Malawi.
The history of rail transport in Malawi began shortly after the turn of the twentieth century.
Nyasa Express Limited, trading as FlyNyasa, is a Malawian charter airline that offers both seat rate and charter commercial air services from their base at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, Malawi. The company began operations in 2011 under the name Ulendo Airlink and rebranded in February 2022.
The MV Chambo is a passenger ship operating on Lake Malawi. It is named after the local name for cichlids living in the lake, Chambo. Because the MV Ilala is out of service regularly for maintenance, the Chambo was acquired to assure uninterrupted service between the Malawian side of the lake, the Mozambican shore and Likoma Island. Vehicles can board the ship using the mount at the front of vessel.
MV Vipya was a motor vessel used as a passenger-cargo ship that sailed on Lake Malawi in Nyasaland from 1944 to 1946. The ferry had a tonnage of 470 tons, was 140 feet (43 m) in length, 27 feet (8.2 m) in breadth, and had a twin crew. Equipped with a motor engine, it could travel up to a speed of 12 knots. It was built to carry 315 passengers and 100 tons of cargo. On July 30, 1946, the ship set sail with 194 passengers on board. It was caught up in a storm near Chilumba in Karonga where it capsized and sank. The disaster resulted in 145 passengers and crew on board drowning. No remains of the bodies have been recovered. The sternwheel ferry disaster is the worst shipwreck in Malawi's history.
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