Bribed Passage: The Cargo Ship to Uganda

Rival freighter

After spending a week in Mwanza, Tanzania, on Lake Victoria – the second largest fresh water lake in the world – I needed to make my way to Kampala, Uganda.  However, I was nowhere near ready to get back on another bus having just spent 15 hours crossing Tanzania only seven days before, and for what would be an even longer ride. 

I made a number of inquires around town about passage via the lake and was told that the only option was to take a passenger ferry for eight hours that would take me across the lake to Bukoba, requiring me to catch a bus from there across the border into Uganda and onto Kampala – still a solid 10 hours away by road.

View of the bridge from the bow

Taking matters into my own hands, I make my way to the commercial port to find an alternative. I reached the entrance to the port, but traffic was at a standstill.  Apparently two large trucks loaded with goods that had just come off one of the ships were attempting to squeeze up the narrow access road at the same time.  Neither driver wanted to yield for the other and an intense argument had broken out. I contemplated getting out and walking down to the entrance in order to bypass the traffic jam until one of the drivers ran to the cab of his truck and emerged with a large machete and started waving it at the other driver.  I stayed in the taxi.

Eventually traffic cleared and I made my way down the docks, which were buzzing with activity, as roughly a hundred men were hurriedly unloading two large cargo ships, putting the loads on waiting trucks.  I found one of the customs officials and he introduced me to the Chief Officer of a large cargo ship called the Umoja.

Train car rails

A few phone calls with the ship’s Captain and a negotiation with his Chief Officer, I paid 80,000 Tanzanian Schillings (US$50) for my passage, which is dramatically overpriced but I was all too happy to pay in order to avoid another long bus ride.

I was taken on board by the Chief Officer and shown my stateroom.  It is then that the officer informs me another 20,000 Tsh is needed to bribe an immigration official since I was not supposed to be using the port as a disembarking point.  I give him the cash and my passport and he returned a short time later with the proper paperwork completed.

The Umjoa was built in 1960 in Scotland and shipped overland to be assembled on Lake Victoria.  It was one of two similar ships ordered by the notoriously brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The total number of crew is around 30 and includes engineers, deck workers, officers, the cadets and galley staff.

Engine room

The cargo on this run was 100 tons of wheat, which was about 6,000 bags of 80 kilograms each. Every bag had to be loaded by hand from a truck on the dock and stacked on the deck of the ship. The Chief Officer tells me they have carried all manner of cargo from food stuffs, to styrofoam containers to Chinese tanks that have been purchased by or given to the Ugandan government.

Wheat

Once underway, it would take roughly 20 hours to reach Port Bell, Uganda. Before we head off, I go to lunch some of the crew at the port cafeteria where all of the boat crews, truck drivers, and dockworkers come to eat.  For 10 schillings, I get a hearty meal of chicken and rice and a cold Orange Fanta.

I spent most of my time talking with the cadets, since they were the most friendly and chatty.  There were four of them on board who are spending three months getting their practical training after their classroom work at the maritime college in Dar es Salaam. They called me Daoudi – which is David in Kiswahili.

Chess/Checkers

Following dinner, a couple of the cadets ask if I want a tour, which was just their excuse to go down and smoke weed in a hidden spot.   They informed me that Tanzanian weed is the best, but that it’s cheaper to buy it in Uganda because the Tanzanian schilling is stronger than Uganda’s currency.   Shortly after the two of them share a joint, they are laughing hysterically at how the First Mate is a “snake driver” meaning he does not keep the boat in a straight line and its wake looks like a snake.  They say it’s because he can’t see the compass properly because his eyesight isn’t so good.

Cadets

One of the young cadets says he needs to go to his station in the chain room, which has got to be the worst job on the boat.  When the ship brings up its anchor from the bottom of the lake, the length of chain is reeled in and stored in a compartment underneath the deck at the bow.  All the muck and gunk comes up with the chain and lands on the two crew members in the compartment who are ensuring the chain coils properly as it rests on the floor of the small room.

Raphael

I was put in the Chief Officer’s cabin because there were two bunks.  To say it was austere is to put it mildly, but the smell inside was overpowering.  I put a chair outside the cabin on deck and worked on my computer in the night air in order to minimize the amount of time I needed to be in it.  When time finally came for me to try and sleep, I needed to shove tiger balm up my nostrils to try and mask the smell just enough so I could rest.

Chief Officer

My cabin mate is a young guy named Anderson.  He sleeps on a bunk so small his legs dangle off the end.  It’s cold as the lake breeze slips easily into our cabin so he covers his legs with a towel and uses a life preserver as a pillow, although he spends most of the night on the bridge commanding the ship.

A few hours after dinner, when things on the ship had settled down, I wondered around.  I noticed that the life boats are old and decrepit – the cadets referred to them, perhaps inelegantly, as “death boats.”  I also see many signs announcing various pieces of rescue equipment such as fire hoses and extinguishers, life preservers and other safety gear but they have long since been stolen and sold off by the low-paid crew members, leaving only the signs.

Missing

I went up to the bridge and observed the crew steer the ship using an old fashioned wheel.  The motorized steering system was broken, so the ship was being controlled using the old wire system as a back up.  This method was not as easy to control and its age meant that jams from kinks in the line were common.  So every thirty minutes 3 cups of steering fluid had to be poured into the housing.

The Bridge

Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater source of fish in Africa, but the fisherman on the lake present a challenge to the captain and crew.  As the competition for fish increases, fisherman on small boats venture further and further away from shore and into the shipping lanes to lay their nets.  At night, the nets are impossible to see and the boat frequently runs them over, which can tangle up the propeller.  This means one of the crew needs to skin dive with a knife off the stern and try and cut away the entanglement.  The fisherman who are out at night present another problem as they are too small to be seen on radar and could easily be run over by the ship, so two crew members are vigilantly on watch with powerful spot lights to avoid hitting them.

Fishermen

In the morning, I wake up to find that something – most likely a rat – has eaten a hole through my canvass backpack in order to get to some food I had left in it.  I am just thankful to be able to go back out into the fresh air on deck.

Perch

Life on the ship for the crew is difficult.  They live in cramped quarters.  The food from the galley is very basic and offers little variety.  The work ranges from physically demanding to mind-numbingly boring and repetitive.  When they have down time, there is very little to do. A couple of cadets have made a game of checkers out of a board and blue and white plastic bottle caps, although they call it “Chess”.  They wash their clothes on board and leave them hung out to be tried in the wind or in proximity to one of the smoke stacks so the hot air from the engine can speed up the drying process.

Algae

We reach the Ugandan port by around 1pm.  As we approach the port, the water changes and is completely covered by a thick film of algae because the water has become so polluted.  As soon as we dock, I say my goodbyes to the crew and the cadets and make my way to immigration.  A quick stamp and I am officially in Uganda.  Just as I cross the threshold a taxi van is pulling up so I hop in and we take off for Kampala.

Port Bell, Uganda