Name RMS Victoria Route around Lake Victoria Completed 1961 Draft 3.96 m | Port of registry Kisumu Yard number 2165 Length 80 m Builder Yarrow Shipbuilders | |
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Launched 1959 (Paisley); 1960 (Kisumu) | ||
MV Victoria is a Lake Victoria ferry operated by the Marine Services Company Limited of Tanzania. Until Kenyan independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 she was the Royal Mail Ship RMS Victoria.
History
Yarrow Shipbuilders at Scotstoun, Glasgow built Victoria in 1960. She was then "knocked down" and exported to Mombasa in 1,500 crates and reassembled at Kisumu on Lake Victoria for the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H) in 1961. When the ship was commissioned Elizabeth II granted her the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) designation: the only EAR&H ship to receive this distinction.
When commissioned in 1961, Victoria had capacity for 230 passengers and 200 tons of freight and had refrigeration for perishable cargo. She took over the EAR&H's circular service around the ports of Lake Victoria, halving the total journey time to two and a half days which enabled her to serve all ports on the lake twice a week. EAR&H accordingly introduced new fares for passengers and rates for different classes of freight on her.
In 1977 EAR&H was divided between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and Victoria was transferred to the new Tanzania Railways Corporation. In 1997 TRC's inland shipping division became a separate company, the Marine Services Company Ltd.