{"id":125180,"date":"2026-03-16T22:50:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shipping.einnews.com\/article\/899894228"},"modified":"2026-03-16T22:50:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:50:46","slug":"cargo-dhow-sinks-in-nungwi-two-dead-three-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/16\/cargo-dhow-sinks-in-nungwi-two-dead-three-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"Cargo dhow sinks in Nungwi: Two dead, three missing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tanga.<\/strong> Two people have died while three others are feared dead after a cargo dhow sank in the Nungwi area of Zanzibar.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The accident occurred on Saturday, March 14, 2000, when the dhow was travelling from Pangani Port in Tanga Region to Mkokotoni Port on Unguja Island.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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According to preliminary reports, the bodies of two people have already been recovered in areas around Mkokotoni Port while three others are still being searched for.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (Tasac) acting officer incharge, Mr Christopher Mlelwa, confirmed the incident.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He said the sunken dhow, MV Talawanda, had been operating cargo transport trips between Pangani and Mkokotoni.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cBasically we insist that all vessels operating through waterways must be registered and certified for seaworthiness by the relevant authority, which is Tasac,\u201d said Mr Mlelwa.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He explained that the vessel had been registered to carry cargo only and not passengers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cThe vessel involved in the March 14 accident had been registered for cargo. It left Pangani Port for Mkokotoni but lost direction due to bad weather,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He added that the vessel\u2019s captains did not observe weather forecast warnings that authorities have repeatedly emphasised to marine travellers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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According to information from Pangani Port, the dhow started its journey carrying only six crew members.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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However, after the accident it emerged that there were more people on board than those who had begun the journey.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cAfter the accident it was discovered that the vessel had 12 people, including sailors and five passengers who boarded along the route,\u201d said Mr Mlelwa.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He said those passengers allegedly boarded at the Ushongo area in Pangani without following marine transport procedures.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cBasically the vessel violated regulations by carrying passengers while it had been registered to carry cargo,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr Mlelwa said the search and rescue operation was conducted by the Zanzibar’s Special Anti-Smuggling Force in cooperation with boat captains from Ushongo and other Pangani areas.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cAccording to information we received  search and rescue centre, seven people were rescued in the accident,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He added that so far three people are still missing while two bodies have already been recovered in the Mkokotoni area.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of the dhow owners in the Pangani area, Mngwali Usi, said marine accidents are often caused by the greed to load cargo beyond a vessel\u2019s capacity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cSometimes when you tell captains not to load beyond the limit they do not listen because of the desire for money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He said he is sometimes forced to personally go to the port to supervise cargo loading to ensure it does not exceed the vessel\u2019s capacity.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen you see me coming personally to the port it is to ensure the cargo being loaded onto my vessel matches the dhow\u2019s capacity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The owner said that on the day of the incident he spoke with one of the sailors who died, who is his sister\u2019s son.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cThe one who died is my sister\u2019s son. I told him many times the sea is not a place for young boys, but sometimes they laugh saying the old man is outdated,\u201d he said sadly.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He said that day the weather was not good and he advised some captains to wait or head to another safe harbour.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI told him to continue to Kikubwi Port because the weather was not good, but his colleague who was with him did not listen and continued the journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He said later he tried calling them to warn them further about the weather but their phones were switched off.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cI tried calling them to tell them the sea conditions were not good, but their phones were switched off, believing they would arrive safely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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For his part, a sailor of the dhow Subira, Mr Juma Mashali, said sometimes the challenge comes from pressure from traders who want their goods delivered quickly.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cSometimes traders force their goods to be transported even when weather conditions are not good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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He said in such situations captains are forced to make difficult decisions to protect people\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cSometimes it happens that a captain is forced to save himself instead of saving a passenger who is on his vessel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mr Mashali emphasised the importance of sailors and captains receiving adequate training and following weather forecasts to prevent marine accidents.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… being searched for. The Tanzania Shipping<\/span> Agencies Corporation (Tasac) acting … Talawanda, had been operating cargo<\/span> transport trips between Pangani … been registered to carry cargo<\/span> only and not passengers … by the greed to load cargo<\/span> beyond a vessel\u00e2\u0080\u0099s capacity …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}