Hundreds of commuters and motorists plunged into an extreme panic on Wednesday after a vessel they were in developed a mechanical hitch.
On March 20, at around 2 pm in the afternoon, MV Jambo failed in the middle of the Indian Ocean when ferrying passengers from Likoni mainland to Mombasa Island.
MV Jambo which is the newest and the biggest ferry at the Likoni cross channel developed a mechanical hitch with its engine with more than 1000 passengers and at least 10 vehicles on board.
The ferry lost speed and direction before it starting drifting in the wrong direction.
The pilot in charge made a crucial announcement that left all passages on board in a panic with some of them turning into prayers asking God to keep them alive.
“Hello, am calling upon the engineers to come over, the ferry has developed a mechanical problem. I urge everyone on board to keep calm and relaxed as our engineers work on the problem,” read an announcement from the pilot.
Thereafter, the engineers were seen running up and down from one deck to the other to ensure the problem is sorted out as soon as possible.
It took about 15 minutes for the engineers to solve the problem before the ferry gained the required speed that enabled it to sail effectively towards the docking area.
However, until going to the press, I could not manage to get views from the pilots nor the engineers to expand on what had really happened.
It is not the first time a ferry has failed in the middle of the ocean as such cases have been reported before.