The Malawi Government is looking for shipyards to set up business on the shores of Lake Malawi.
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the ninth largest lake in the world and the third largest and second deepest lake in Africa. It is home to more species of fish than any other lake, including about 1000 species of cichlids. The Mozambique portion of the lake was officially declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10, 2011, and in Malawi a portion of the lake is included in the Lake Malawi National Park. Lake Malawi is a meromictic lake (water layers do not mix); permanent stratification of water and the oxic-anoxic boundary (relating to oxygen in the water) are maintained by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients.
The Ministry of Transport and Public Works marine services director Laston Makudzula told local media: “Lake Malawi has huge potential for shipping operations. If we can have our own shipbuilding yard, we will reduce the cost of acquiring ships.”
Currently, ships are built in other countries and dismantled to transported and reassembled.
The government has identified Nkhata Bay port as the ideal location to establish both shipbuilding and repair facilities.
In recent years, a number of foreign firms have established yard presences on Africa’s largest lake, Victoria, some 1,300 km to the north of Malawi.
