Date of Award
1997
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Science in Maritime Affairs
Specialization
Maritime Safety Administration
Campus
Malmö, Sweden
Country
Kenya
First Advisor
Langjord, Tore
Abstract
The dissertation is an examination of what has gone wrong in the maritime transport in Kenya as the number of accidents have increased tremendously and become too frequent in the last fourteen years. The accidents have also become very serious, for example Mtongwe ferry and and Mv Bukoba between them killed about 1000 people. The study has highlighted various accidents and the various factors at play in such accidents. The many immediate contributing factors have been investigated to determine which among them are the main causes of the accidents. The various maritime administrations in charge of various areas of maritime transport and other maritime activities in Kenya, for example fishing, have been assessed to pinpoint any weaknesses in the fulfilment of their assigned roles, and whose errors of ommission or commission could cause a serious accident. The laws governing the maritime affairs in Kenya were made in 1958,1967 and 1978 when maritime transport was not very developed and the population was about a quarter of what it is today. So there are more boats than the surveyors who usually visit them can cope with, and they also spend too much time chasing after the boats as their owners try to evade them. So the study proposes sometimes radical change from the original thinking, for example the law can be made to compel the boats to go to the surveyor or inspector in a designated area. The study has looked at the laws concerned with maritime transport and other maritime activities and assessed them in order to determine their adequacy and relevance in the prevailing conditions. This study proposes the need for a central maritime administration. It shows the role this administration would play in reducing the present rate of accidents and chart a well planned route for the maritime industry to follow making the industry, from the smallest fishing boat, operating in Lake Victoria to the biggest oil tanker calling in Kenya’s Ports operate safely and efficiently.