Three men have been charged with manslaughter in connection with the July 2012 sinking of a crowded vessel off the coast of Zanzibar. The vessel, a passenger ferry that was transporting passengers between the two major islands of Zanzibar, overturned in rough sea conditions on July 18th. More than 300 passengers are estimated to have been on board the ferry, despite its maximum capacity being stated as 230.
As of August 2012, the bodies of 104 passengers have been found with 140 survivors being rescued. There are still scores of passengers who are missing, but they have been presumed dead and the search for their bodies has been called off by the Zanzibar coastal authorities.
The owner of the ship, the ship’s captain and the manager of the company that operated that ferry have all been arrested and are being charged with manslaughter after it was determined that their negligence may have contributed to the accident. They are expected to appear in a Zanzibar court later this month.
As well as the three men accused, Zambia’s transport minister has also been implicated in contributing to the accident. He resigned on July 23rd following the incident. This tragic accident is the second major ferry disaster in less than a year. Just a few months prior, in September 2011, another overloaded ferry capsized on the same route, killing more than 200 people.
In the September 2011 disaster, the ferry, licensed for a maximum capacity of 690 passengers and crew members, was carrying more than 800 people. After this event, the transport minister instituted safety measures in an attempt to prevent further such incidents. However, clearly these measures were not effective as hundreds continue to die on Zambian waters each year in ferry accidents such as these.
It has been confirmed that at least 2 of the 104 passengers that have been officially declared dead were foreign nationals on vacation in Zanzibar. The relatives of the deceased have been notified. It is clear that in this incident, as in the one before, a number of factors played a role in the tragic outcome of events. Whether it be a lack of legal enforcement of strict capacity limits on ferries, or an oversight on the part of the captain of the vessel of the company that operates the ferry, further measures need to be urgently implemented in order to prevent another ferry tragedy from occurring in Zanzibar in the future.
