The sunken MV Skagit leaves a family in a solitude state

Husein Ally Hamad (62) a resident of Tandika Kwa Maguruwe in Temeke district, Dar es Salaam region is in a grief stricken situation, and probably the most sufferer of the recent tragic marine accident of MV Skagit which occurred last week at Chumbe Islet 30 Km off the coast of Dar es Salaam city.  Hamad who lost three of his most beloved sons and some other close relatives find it difficult to narrate a miserable story about the misfortune which has befallen him and his family in general. However, he is a father of eight children and a native of Pemba Island who does his businesses in the mainland Tanzania to earn his living. It is not only the aftermaths of the MV Skagit which has made him to be lonely as a such, but he still feels the pangs of a yet another marine disaster which occurred in September 2011 near  Nungwi Islet north of Zanzibar Island. The Nungwi accident lost his daughter and a junior brother when the sunken MV Spice Islander capsized and claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people in an accident described to be the worst ever happened along the eastern coast of Africa. It is a great sorrow indeed for him though he doesn’t have a need to thing about it so much to find out what could be the basic solution to the problem in order to ease his temper, but has preferred to remain sullen with nothing to do except to leave the matter upon the lord God.  He said in an exclusive interview on last Sunday morning when met at the Dar es Salaam port getting prepared to get a ticket aboard a ferry boat belonging to Azam Marine on his way to Zanzibar to attend the state funeral ceremony which was led by Zanzibar President Dr. Mohammed Shein for the people who perished in last week’s MV Skagit. “I am actually feeling painful as I remember my lost two sons, relatives and a daughter including some other family members who perished in the previous untold marine disasters”. He said while lamenting politely amid tears flowing down his chicks. In another development, relatives of the bereaved families who perished in the MV Skagit disaster have called on quick investigations that would establish the cause of accident that led to the tragic deaths of their innocent relatives. Speaking in an interview, a cross section of a grief stricken relatives said that, the government must be open and transparent when giving out the report about the accident which they say has paralyzed the mindset of many of them as they are still feeling the pangs of yet another marine disaster that claimed the lives of their relatives in September last year. Following the sunken MV Skagit disaster, the Zanzibar President Dr. Mohammed Shein has formed a probing commission of 10 people to carry out investigations to establish the authentic course of the accident and a report to be issued to the general public.

MV Skagit as it gets prepared to leave the Dar es Salaam port for Zanzibar during its operations.

statement issued early this week by the Permanent Secretary of the Zanzibar State House, Dr. Abdulhamid Yahya said that, the President has appointed Judge Abdulhakim Ameir Issa to lead a 10 people delegation consisting of marine experts who are highly specialized in rescuing activities on marine vessels. Judge Abdulhakim and others led the commission of enquiry on the investigations of the last year’s MV Spice Islander which sunk along Nungwi peninsular north of Zanzibar on its voyage to Pemba Island from Zanzibar and killed 1,529 people and scores of others were reported missing. Following the Chumbe marine disaster, the Zanzibar Minister for Infrastructure and Communications Hamad Masoud Hamad stepped down early this week, a move that has been described to have shown political maturity. An investigative piece of information can reveal through various web sources of information among the  www.seattletimes.nwsource.com that, the MV Skagit was built in 1989 at Halter Marine in New Orleans, Louisiana and was operating in Seattle in Washington in USA. It was stopped from operating in 2009 due to its old age and time expiry of its existence. The former Washington ferry served on the Seattle-Vashon Island route since its construction in 1989 before it was discarded and declared unsafe to sail by the US government four years ago. However, despite of its bad state, it was sold to greedy businessmen and transported to Tanzania. Before its purchase, the Washington State Ferries (WSF) the original owner, in the USA tried to sell the vessel and that one of its sister company, MV Kalama for $900,000 since 2009 but found no potential buyers for both obsolete vessels.  However, the two ferries were finally sold for a combined price of just $400,000 to Seagull Services Ltd based in Zanzibar and transported to operate in Tanzania in 2011. They arrived in Zanzibar in 2011 and were given full registration by Zanzibar Marine Authority (ZMA) with the numbers 100144. On arrival of the MV Skagit, its buyer altered its original design of the vessel and added yet another deck to accommodate more passengers and cargo contrary to the regulations which does not match with the capacity originally designed for it as the boats were to carry passengers only.  A senior marine official who spoke on strict condition of anonymity told this paper at Dar es Salaam port on Sunday last week that, inadequate safety measures, careless inspection on marine vessels, and lack of seriousness among government officials both in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar are to blame for the recent disaster. However, he noted that, bearing the facts and the circumstances surrounding the registration of the MV Skagit which was sold to Seagull Company should never have been allowed to set sail in Dar es Salaam port for it had its lifespan expired to navigate in sea waters. Cornered by this writer for comments over the allegations, an official from the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) noted that, the registration rules and procedures for ZMA are not the same as those governed in the mainland. SUMATRA’s Public Affairs Manager, David Mziray explained that, his organization in the mainland does not give a registration to a marine vessel which has been constructed with a lifespan of less than 20 years. He said adding that, for the case of MV Skagit, it had issued a certificate of standards which was to expire in mid August this year. However, he declined to say anything further claiming that the details about the MV Skagit, are made available to Zanzibar Marine Authority and that SUMATRA on the mainland had accepted it to operate and docked at Dar port because of its registration which was made in Zanzibar. Meanwhile, a Dar es Salaam based human right activist who preferred anonymity has called on the government to look at the levels of the accountability by its SUMATRA of the mainland Tanzania and that one of Zanzibar, noting that, the two authorities should give authentic facts as they are closer to the registration of the voyaging boats along the Indian Ocean waters. However, he said during the interview with this blog when contacted for comments early this week in Dar es Salaam and insisted that, the matter is more entirely handled by the Zanzibar Marine Authority who registered the ship to operate between Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam.