MV Liemba still plies on Lake Tanganyika even at 100 years

Lake Tanganyika. On Lake Tanganyika, a century-old relic of World War I that became the stuff of Hollywood legend still plies the slate-grey waters - but it is not clear for how much longer.

Once a feared gunship defending the African lake for Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, the legendary vessel - which inspired the 1951 classic “The African Queen” - has been sunk and refloated twice, renamed and repurposed as a ferry.

As it marks 100 years of service, the MV Liemba, originally a symbol of colonial power, is now an essential lifeline for the people who live along the lakeshore. “Liemba is the only safe means of transport along the lake,” said Mathew Mathia Mwanjisi, the ship’s captain.

“Historically, it’s very important to Tanzania as a country, but again it’s very important for the people along the coast of Lake Tanganyika.” The tale of the warship and the battle for Lake Tanganyika inspired British novelist C.S. Forester to write his 1935 novel “The African Queen”, later adapted by Hollywood in the movie of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. Piled high with pineapples, maize and rice - as well as up to 600 passengers - the MV Liemba navigates the world’s longest lake every two weeks, from Kigoma, Tanzania, in the north to Mpulungu, Zambia, in the south.

The journey of some 600 kilometres is meant to take some three days, but is often longer as the ship hops from village to village, transforming into a lively aquatic carnival at each stop. Children in leaky canoes paddle alongside to sell fresh mangos.

‘History of the country’

Lai Bakari Kiunguti is a ship-bound trader with a makeshift stall below the deck to serve the ship’s passengers. Like many others, her livelihood depends on the boat, and as the MV Liemba ages she worries for the future. “When MV Liemba stops travelling I will stay at home. That would make me poor because it means I wouldn’t work,” she said.

The MV Liemba requires constant maintenance, and may not stay afloat much longer without a complete overhaul. Tanzania asked the German government for help repairing or replacing the vessel in 2011 and KfW, a German government-owned development bank, is assessing whether rehabilitation might be possible.

But it may be cheaper to simply replace the MV Liemba with a new ferry, ending a century of fascinating history. “It is carrying the history of the country,” said Bertram Mapunda, a professor of history at Tanzania’s University of Dar es Salaam.

Mapunda said the ship should be celebrated, and preserved, just as German colonial-era buildings and railway lines are throughout the country. The MV Liemba began its life in a shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, in 1913 where it was named the Graf von Götzen after German East Africa’s former governor.

Before setting sail, the steamer was taken apart, packed into 5,000 numbered crates, and shipped to Dar es Salaam.

Recent history

MV Liemba has been operating almost non-stop since 1927. In 1948 the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H) took over running the ferry, allowing it to link services with the Central Line from Kigoma to Dar es Salaam. From 1976 till 1979 the ship was overhauled. At this time twin diesel engines replaced the original steam engines. 

The driving force behind this renovation was Patrick “Paddy” Dougherty. He was born on March 18, 1918 in Downpatrick and did an apprenticeship at Harland & Wolff in Belfast. Subsequently, he served during the Second World War in the Royal Navy and became a ship’s engineer. 

In the sixties and seventies, he worked for the EAR&H in Kisumu, Kenya as first engineer, and later as chief engineer on the ferries of Lake Victoria. After the renovation of MV Liemba he left Tanzania.

In 1977 the EAR&H was dissolved and the new Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) took over operation of MV Liemba. In 1993 the TRC gave Liemba an overhaul managed by the Danish shipyard OSK ShipTech A/S, sponsored by the Danish International Development Agency.

The rebuild included the deck house, the electronic system, and the pipes, renovation of the cabins of the passengers and crew, new MAN engines of 460 kW each from MAN, installation of a hydraulic crane on the foredeck, and conversion of the rear cargo hull into a passenger room (capacity increase to 600 passengers.

To improve safety MV Liemba received a double bottom in the area of the forward cargo compartment. The ship was re-measured and the Danish engineers found that Liemba was 71.40 metres long and 10 metres wide.

With the new machines, the ship can achieve a speed of 11 knots. MV Liemba now has ten first-class passenger cabins (double bed) and two VIP cabins. Eighteen second-class cabins (six double and 12 quad-beds) are also available.

In 1997 the UNHCR used MV Liemba and MV Mwongozo to repatriate more than 75,000 refugees who had fled Zaire during the First Congo War, following the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko. 

MV Liemba made 22 trips between Kigoma and Uvira during this five month operation. In 1997 TRC’s inland shipping division became a separate company, the Marine Services Company Ltd.

In 2011, TRC wrote to the Federal Government of Germany, requesting assistance in either renovating or replacing the vessel. The German authorities undertook a study that it is thought concluded that it would be cheaper to build a new ship than renovate Liemba.

The final request for financial help fell between the governments of Lower Saxony, where the ship was built, and the federal government in Berlin, with the then President of Germany Christian Wulff stating that the vessel had a “singular history” and performed an “indispensable service” to the people of East Africa.

Scuttled, sunk, afloat

Then it was taken by railway and porter to the shore of Lake Tanganyika where it was reassembled in 1915, armed with cannon, and put to work defending the waters against Belgian and British soldiers. 

Measuring 70 metres long and weighing 1,200 tonnes the Graf von Götzen dominated the lake for nearly a year, dwarfing all other ships.

But when the outnumbered German land forces retreated the warship was filled with cement and scuttled. The Belgians salvaged the Graf von Götzen, towing her to Kigoma harbour after the war but she sank again during a storm.

In 1921, Winston Churchill ordered the ship raised once more. Despite the years submerged the Graf von Gotzen was still useable because the German crew, hoping to see the ship sail again, had coated the engines in thick protective grease before sinking her. 

Rechristened the MV Liemba, after the local name for the lake, it was put into service as a cargo and passenger ferry in 1927.

The original steam engines continued to operate until the mid-1970s when they were replaced with diesel. Subsequent books, such as Giles Foden’s “Mimi and Toutou Go Forth”, have also explored the ship’s history and its role in the Great War’s East African Campaign. 

The MV Liemba has also seen the effects of more recent conflicts in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1997, she was used by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) to carry more than 75,000 refugees returning home to DR Congo after fleeing war. 

Today captain Mwanjisi and his crew say they are proud to work aboard this storied vessel and of the vital service the MV Liemba provides as the unlikely lifeblood of the lake’s economy and society. (AFP)