Two seafarers were killed when a Kenyan flagged cargo vessel laden with sacks full of khat reportedly capsized 400 km north east of Mombasa, IHS Maritime has learned.
Lamu-based fisherman Athman Seif told IHS Maritime that MV Al-Shami sank on Sunday. Three other crew members were rescued and taken to hospital.
The vessel foundered while travelling from Mokowe to Kiunga about 15 km to the border with Somalia.
It is widely believed that the proliferation of substandard ocean-going vessels is the root of maritime disasters occurring in Kenyan territorial waters.
A boat carrying dozens of passengers hit another vessel and capsized off Lamu island in 2012.
The boat, which was said to have been overloaded, was ferrying more than 70 people from Lamu to the nearby mainland when it hit the other vessel killing eight people.
In another incident, one person died and four others narrowly escaped death after a boat they were travelling in capsized near the Lamu jetty on 23 January 2012.
On 29 April 1994 the MV Mtongwe ferry bound for the Mombasa Island capsized just 40 m from port, killing 272 of the 400 people on board.
Following the disaster, it was reported that the capacity for the ship was 300.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
