MV Liemba

When you step onto MV Liemba, you travel back in time. This historic ferry has been part of Tanzania’s maritime story for over a century. It sails the clear waters of Lake Tanganyika, carrying tales of adventure. History fans and bold travelers should not miss this special vessel.

Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany built MV Liemba in 1913. At first, they named it SS Graf von Goetzen after Count Gustav Adolf von Götzen, who governed German East Africa from 1901 to 1906. After building the ship, workers took it apart and shipped it to Tanganyika in 5,000 crates. Then they put it back together in Kigoma, on Lake Tanganyika’s shore, and launched it in 1915.

During World War I, the lake became a key battle area between German and British forces. The ship, then called Graf von Goetzen, played a major role in the war. It carried soldiers, gear, and supplies to support German troops around the lake.

However, in 1916, as Germans lost ground to British and Belgian forces and left Kigoma, they sank the ship on purpose. They didn’t want the British to take it. Before sinking it, they greased all moving parts well, hoping to recover it after the war. But they lost the war.

After the war, the British Royal Navy raised the ship in 1924. Because it was so well-greased, they found it still worked and decided to fix it up. While getting ready to work on it, the ship sank again due to its position and the slope. They had to raise it once more. By 1927, workers finished restoring the ship and renamed it Liemba, a local name for the lake at that time. It has served ever since and remains the only German Imperial Navy vessel still working today.

MV Liemba has gone through several major updates, with the last one in 1993 by a Danish shipyard. Each update has increased how much it can carry. As of July 2023, MV Liemba could carry 200 tonnes and 600 passengers, up from the original 200. Though grounded, the ship was also running on diesel engines.

Author C.S. Forester found MV Liemba’s story so gripping that he based his novel “The African Queen” on it. Though the book takes place on a different lake, it brought world fame to the legendary ferry. In 1951, filmmakers turned the novel into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. While they shot the film elsewhere, the spirit of MV Liemba’s adventure lives on through this classic movie.