The MV Umoja is a ferry that serves Lake Victoria in Africa. It is best known for having been featured in a book by Paul Theroux and for several recent accidents.

The Umoja was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland in 1965 as a railway wagon ferry. It is presently owned by East African Railways and Harbours Corporation and its port of registry is Kisumu, Kenya, on Lake Victoria. It operates between Jinja, Mwanza, Musoma, and Kisumu along with its sister vessel the Uhuru. "Umoja" means "unity" in the Swahili language.

In Dark Star Safari, Theroux gives an account of a journey on Lake Victoria aboard the Umoja, detailing the hazards from out-of-date charts and emphasising the friendliness and competence of the crew.

The Umoja struck rocks in 1990, 1996, and 2002. The 2002 accident caused $160,000 in damage [1].

[edit] References

• Cameron, Stuart (2004). "Umoja". Clyde-built Database. http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1588. Retrieved 2006-06-30. 

• Theroux, Paul (2003). Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-13424-7. 

[edit] See also

• Lake Victoria ferries

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