Ferry's withdrawal causes massive congestion

The withdrawal of the MV Nyayo ferry after its propellers got damaged caused massive congestion during rush hour at the Likoni crossing channel in Mombasa on Friday evening.

The situation worsened when the flaps of another ferry, MV Harambee, got damaged, forcing it to only transport people and not vehicles.

From the Mombasa island side, impatient commuters forcefully broke the waiting bays’ gates and poured onto the ramp to wait for any vessel docking from the mainland side.

This caused massive delays. The Kenya Ferry Services (KFS) operations team had a hectic time controlling passengers and motorists.

Sensing things were getting out of hand, the management summoned the security forces that took charge to control the situation.

Sources told the Nation the management used three ferries to clear the huge human traffic from the island ramp before they could allow motorists to board subsequent vessels.

On Saturday, KFS Managing Director Bakari Gowa said the withdrawal of MV Nyayo and the damaged flap of MV Harambee left only two ferries – MV Likoni and MV Kwale – to clear the piled vehicles on both sides of the busy channel.

“With the ever-increasing commuters and vehicles on both sides, we were forced to continue using mv Harambee to ferry people as the other three cleared the huge snarl-up of vehicles and loaded trucks,” he said.