Mozambique has intensified its focus on maritime safety following Sunday’s incident in which 96 people drowned after the fishing trawler-turned-ferry they were on capsized off the coast of Ilha da Mozambique.
Many of the deceased were children, and 26 people remain unaccounted for.
Only five people were rescued.
The incident involved an overcrowded makeshift passenger carrier not licensed to transport people.
The boat was carrying about 130 passengers, many of whom were trying to escape the mainland due to a panic caused by disinformation about a cholera scare.
The overloaded trawler was on its way from the mainland to the island some 340 kilometres south of the Port of Pemba when it capsized.
MZ News reported that the government was meeting today, April 9, to assess the situation of the shipwreck and to take the necessary measures to minimise the impact of the incident.
President Filipe Nyusi sent a government delegation, led by the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, to provide aid to the survivors, as well as to investigate the reasons behind the tragedy.
Magala stressed the need to take a stand to avoid similar cases in the future.
Mozambique’s maritime efficiency is also currently under scrutiny because of disruption caused by inclement weather at the Port of Maputo.
According to the latest Cargo Movement Update by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) and Business Unity SA (Busa), heavy rains are blamed for massive queueing at the Motala coal terminal.
The back-up had resulted in magnetite fleets standing idle since Friday, said Saaff and Busa.
