MV Joola
 Ferry MV Le Joola at Ziguinchor, Senegal in 1991
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Senegal | |
| Name: | Le Joola |
| Owner: | Republique Senegal, Ministere de l'Equipement, Dakar / Senegal |
| Operator: | Armed Forces of Senegal |
| Port of registry: |
 Senegal
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| Route: | Dakar to Casamance |
| Builder: | Schiffswerft Germersheim GmbH (Germany) |
| Acquired: | 1990 |
| Out of service: |
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| Identification: | Call sign 6VYZ |
| Fate: | Capsized and sunk in rough seas 26 September 2002 |
| Status: | Wreck |
| Notes: | The ship was overloaded with an estimated 1,863 aboard at the time of disaster. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Roll-on/roll-off ferry |
| Tonnage: | 2,087 GRT |
| Length: | 79.5 m (260 ft 10 in) |
| Beam: | 12 m (39 ft 4 in) |
| Draft: | 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Capacity: |
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| Crew: | 44 |
MV Le Joola was a Senegalese government-owned roll-on/roll-off ferry that capsized off the coast of the Gambia on 26 September 2002, with 1,863 deaths and 64 survivors. It is thought to be the second-worst non-military disaster in maritime history.
The ship was plying the route from Ziguinchor in the Casamance region to the Senegalese capital, Dakar, when it ran into a violent storm, farther out to sea than it was licensed to sail. The estimated 2000 passengers on-board amounted to at least three times as many as the ship was designed to hold, and only about half of them had tickets. The large numbers sleeping on deck added further instability. Rescue operations did not start for several hours.
A government inquiry principally blamed negligence, and accusations were levelled at both the Senegalese president and prime minister.
The ship was named Le Joola after the Jola people of southern Senegal. It was constructed in Germany and was put to sea in 1990. She was 79 m (259 ft 2 in) long and 12 m (39 ft 4 in) wide, had two motors and was equipped with some of the latest safety equipment available at the time of the disaster. Le Joola usually traveled twice a week and often carried women who wanted to sell mangoes and palm oil on the market of Dakar. At the time of the disaster, the ship had been out of service for almost a year undergoing repairs which included replacement of the port side engine.
On 26 September 2002, Le Joola set sail from Ziguinchor in the Casamance region on one of its frequent trips between southern Senegal and the country's capital Dakar at about 1:30 pm. Although the ship was designed to carry a maximum of 580 passengers and crew, an estimated 1,863 passengers are believed to have been on board, including 185 people who boarded the ship from Carabane, an island where there was no formal port of entry or exit for passengers. The exact number of all passengers remains unknown (some Senegalese based organizations put the number at over 2,000), but there were 1,034 travelers with tickets. The rest of the passengers were either not required to hold tickets (children aged less than 5) or had been permitted to travel for free, as often happened.
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