24 killed as former Washington ferry capsizes in Tanzania

Originally published July 18, 2012 at 10:10 AM | Page modified July 18, 2012 at 10:17 PM

ARUSHA, Tanzania ? A Zanzibar official says 24 people were killed in a ferry accident off the coast of Tanzania's island region of Zanzibar.

Dozens are missing, and 145 people have been rescued.

The BBC reports the boat is the MV Skagit, a former Washington state passenger-only ferry, which was sold, relocated to Tanzania and renamed the MV Karama Star Gate.

Mwinyihaji Makame, a deputy minister in the office of the president, said Wednesday it remained unclear how many passengers were on board, but the BBC reported the ferry carried more than 250 people when it sank. An AP photographer reported that it carried more than 290, including more than 30 children.

Washington State Ferries documents listed its passenger capacity at 250.

The ferry had departed the Tanzanian port city of Dar es Salaam en route to Zanzibar, which is popular with tourists.

Makame said a rescue effort was on, and that police were investigating what caused the accident. According to the BBC, the ferry encountered high winds. A safety officer with the Zanzibar Port Corp. said the vessel was overturned, bottom-up.

The Skagit was formerly a passenger-only vessel between Seattle and Vashon Island, but Washington State Ferries discontinued its foot-ferry routes and later sold the Skagit in 2011 for use in Tanzania. The MV Skagit and MV Kalama, built in 1989, were taken out of service in 2009 and eventually sold together for a total $400,000 to Scope Community Consultants of Port Coquitlam, B.C., according to an announcement by Washington State Ferries.

Washington state had tried before that to sell the Skagit and Kalama on eBay, for $300,000 each. The boats are 112 feet long and were supposed to last 25 years ? so the Skagit would be in its final years of normal operating life.

Last September, more than 200 people were killed when a crowded ferry traveling between two islands of Zanzibar sank off the East African coast. Officials described it then as the worst accident in Tanzania's maritime history.

Seattle Times transportation reporter Mike Lindblom contributed to this report.

Source: http://feeds.seattletimes.com/click.phdo?i=fac8a55d070c6b4e6f42b75356c504bf

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