MT Kabaka Mutebi II, a specialized fuel transporting ship arrived at Kawuku in Entebbe, from Kisumu-Kenya on Friday 30th December 2022 carrying 1.1million litres of diesel. The water vessel set off from Entebbe last week in it’s maiden voyage to Kisumu port in Kenya.
The newly built 4.5million litre capacity fuel vessel made its first delivery in what has been regarded as a Gorvernment move to contain the ever un predictably fluctuating fuel prices.
Captain Mike Mukula, Ceo Mahathi Infra Uganda Ltd, the company behind the construction of the ship announced the developments via his Twitter handle, “MT Kabaka Mutebi 11 is back anchored. On behalf of the Board of Directors and Management, We celebrate this historic journey as a beginning of the transformation process of water transport and infrastructure development in the region. I wish to thank the Katikiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga deeply.” Mukula noted in a tweet.
The Katikiro of Buganda, Owek. Charles Peter Mayiga took it to his Twitter handle to celebrate the good news, “The maiden voyage of MT Kabaka Mutebi II arrived today at Kawuku, Busiro carrying fuel. The tanker was built by Mahathi Infra Uganda, and the vessel was named after the 36th King of Buganda. I thank Director Mike Mukula for this initiative.”
According to Gorvernment officials, the move is expected to lower the cost of transportation of fuel which in turn will influence a cut on both retail and pump prices in the country.
Beyond reducing the cost of transporting fuel by road, experts have revealed that the move will reduce the destructive effect of fuel transporting trailers that are blamed for the high rate of ware and tare of Ugandan roads.
It took close to 3 years of hardwork and dedication for investors to put the water vessel together. It is estimated to be over 100meters in length and close to 50 meters in width with a capacity of carrying over 4 million liters of fuel per return journey, a load that would require a staggering 150 tankers by road.
Mukula invested an unspecified amount of money into Mahathi Infra Uganda Ltd, to start the oil transportation venture using lake Victoria.
The company is said to have been granted exclusive rights by Uganda’s Energy Ministry to operate fuel burgess on lake Victoria as a way to help them secure credit from banks.
Early this year, the price of fuel drastically escalated triggering an increase on the prices of house hold items. Gorvernment attributed the escalation to the slow clearance of fuel trailers at Malaba border point in efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 and later projected the blame to the war in Ukraine. There is much anticipation that the move will become the lasting solution to the ever sky rocketing fuel prices in the country.
