WORLD SHIP SOCIETY

n March 2016, PONY Branch member Tom Rinaldi traveled to Tanzania and Malawi to seek out two of the world’s most interesting passenger ships: the MV ILALA II, built 1949-51, and the MV LIEMBA, built 1913-1915. Both relics of European colonialism in East and Central Africa, these junior-sized liners have served isolated communities on the lakes of the Great Rift Valley for a combined total of more than 150 years and counting. ILALA II has operated for almost her entire life along the western shore of Lake Malawi, while the LIEMBA first served German East Africa (now Tanzania). Scuttled in 1916 by the Germans during WWI, Winston Churchill had it raised in 1924, rebuilt and put back into Lake Tanganyika service in 1927. The ship inspired the book and film The African Queen. Tom, one of our most adventurous travelers, shared photos and stories of what he found, as well as presented a historical overview of East Africa’s inland lakes steamer services.