MPULUNGU PORT

By Masauso Mkwayaya

Mpulungu port in Mpulungu District is Zambia's biggest Port with water vessels ferrying people and goods to the Great Lakes region countries such as Burundi,DRC and Tanzania among others.

For adventure lovers who may love to travel to any of these countries by water,Mpulungu Harbour should be your next destination.

Even though most ships here are cargo,I am sure one can still find some space as a passenger .

The Port is situated on the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika, in the Northern Province of Zambia. I will write about the magnificent Lake Tanganyika in a separate article. It's too special to be swallowed in this write up.

The port was built in 1930 before Zambia gained its independence. It operated as a fishing berth.

Post-independence, the port was used mainly as an alternative storage facility for fuel imported through East Africa and supplied to the Northern part of Zambia. In 1977, the port started handling exports to the Great Lakes Region.

The port is managed by Mpulungu Harbour Corporation Ltd, a company registered in 1988 and wholly owned by the government of the Republic of Zambia.

Mpulungu Harbour Corporation aspires to procure and operate vessels on lake Tanganyika and other water bodies.

Lake Tanganyika is 673km long and 50km wide, there are at least six ports on the shore lines of lake Tanganyika, all with railhead capacity and connectivity to the hinterland.

Pictures by

Masauso Mkwayaya

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