Wednesday October 24, 2018
Boat operators in Lamu
County have called for the establishment of more floating petrol
stations to prevent cases of vessels running out of fuel in the middle
of the ocean.
The operators said the most affected
boats are those conducting long distance shipping - carrying commodities
from Lamu Old Town to the far flung islands of Faza, Kizingitini,
Mkokoni, Kiwayu and all the way to Kiunga and Ishakani on the border of
Lamu and Somalia.
Lamu County has only five floating
boat petrol stations anchored in the middle of the Indian Ocean and all
of them are situated within Lamu Old Town. The other petrol stations are
in the mainland areas of Mokowe, Hindi, Mpeketoni and Witu. All of
these, the sailors said, cannot help them in the Lamu Indian Ocean.
Boat operator Ahmed Omar said there is need for petrol stations
to be established in places such as the Manda Bruno, Mtangawanda,
Mkokoni, and Ndau.
Mr Omar said the Lamu Old Town
floating petrol stations only favour short distance shippers, especially
those operating within the Lamu Old Town to Manda Airport, Mokowe,
Shella, Matondoni and Kipungani routes.
“We want more
floating boat petrol stations to be anchored along the various routes in
the Indian Ocean. It is very hard for us to find petrol once our
vessels run out of the commodity along the way,” said Mr Omar.
“Many
times, we are forced to send someone to get petrol in Lamu. That’s
costly. We want such stations anchored on certain places which can be
easily accessed once our boats run out of petrol.”
Yusuf
Kupi, a coxswain plying the Lamu Old Town-Ndau route, said although
they gauge the amount of fuel needed to reach their destination,
unforeseen circumstances make them to run out of fuel.
“We are forced to gauge the amount of petrol required for the
journey. But sometimes this does not help. We end up suffering in the
middle of the ocean for lack of petrol. The only solution is for more
boat petrol stations to be established in our routes,” said Mr Kupi.
Boat operator, Bwana Obbo said sometimes their vessels stall in dangerous places.
“You
can imagine a vessel full of passengers and cargo running out of petrol
in a place like Manda Bruno, Mlango wa Tanu, Mlango wa Bomani and other
channels considered dangerous. There is no petrol station around there.
Carrying extra fuel in plastics is also dangerous.”
Investors
who talked to Shipping & Logistics yesterday however reiterated
that establishing such petrol stations is costly plus there are many
restrictions involved.
“We are ready to establish such
boat petrol stations anywhere they want but the problem is that
establishing such stations is a bit expensive. There are also
restrictions involved in running such a business,” said Said Athman.
He said acquiring a licence to run boat petrol stations in the middle of the Indian Ocean is “both technical and tiresome”.
“You
will be taken in circles before you’re given the licence to operate and
even if you obtain the documents, you will be subjected to a number of
restrictions and stresses. That is why we are a bit reluctant to
establish more floating petrol station in Lamu,” said Mr Twalib.