Proceedings of the Thirty-second (2022) International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference
Shanghai, China, June 5–10, 2022
Copyright © 2022 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE)
ISBN 978-1-880653-81-4; ISSN 1098-6189

www.isope.org

Safety aspects for inland personnel transport; case study Congo River
Aaron Munyangeyo1 and Ove Tobias Gudmestad1,2
1 Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Haugesund Campus, Norway
2 University of Stavanger, Norway

carried out on the navigable waterways. The total length of thesenavigable waterways is estimated at more than 16.000km, including thenavigable part of the Congo River, noting that in Congo RDC, the main
maritime transportation is operated on the Congo River with its
tributaries and on Lake Kivu. These waterways give the people in thecountry the opportunity to connect the villages with the capital Kinshasa
and the neighbor countries, see Fig. 1. For more details, see WFP (2013).

ABSTRACTIn many countries, such as in Bangladesh, Egypt and The Democratic
Republic of Congo, much of the inland transport is conducted on riversand lakes. The passenger safety associated with this traffic should be tointernational safety level. However, often safe transport is not secured
and accidents and fatalities occur, either caused by fires or byoverloading causing capsizing, grounding on sandbanks or capsizing inlarge waves. Note that the large rivers can be several kilometers wide.
In the case of the river Congo, the passenger safety is at the lowest level,
resulting in hundreds of fatalities annually. Of particular concern for theCongo River is the lack of safety equipment, lack of updated charts, poor
equipment maintenance and the lack of implementation of educationrequirements. In the paper, we explore this catastrophic situation andsummarize the response to a questionnaire carried out amongst relevant
local maritime personnel. Means to improve the situation are suggested
with emphasis on adherence to IMO regulations for vessels and fairleads
and the education of maritime personnel.

KEY WORDS: Inland transport; river transport; lake transport; IMO
regulations; river navigation; safe vessels; stability; ship accidents;
fatalities.

NOMENCLATURE
AU – African Union
CEMAC - Central African Economic and Monetary Community
CICOS - Commission International du Bassin Congo-Oubangui-Sangha
Congo DRC - Democratic Republic of Congo
IMO - International Maritime organization
SOLAS Convention (International Convention for the Safety of Life atSea)
WFP – World Food Program

Fig.1. Navigable rivers and lakes in Congo DRC. Note that River Congo
is not navigable between Matadi and Kinshasa, between Kisangani andUbandu and between Kindu and Rongoko. Railway services are being
upgraded where river transport is not possible due to rapids. Lake Kivu
is north of Lake Tanganyika. See: Wikiwand (no date).
Congo DRC has a generally poor transportation infrastructure. This is amajor factor in the country’s economic challenges. The Congo River andits tributaries, serve as the main transport arteries. These rivers aresupplemented by rail, road, and both private and public air services. The
status for river transport is, however, characterized by use of obsolete
equipment (like old tugs without navigation lights and barges without
safety provisions), lack of navigation supports, non-updated charts andlack of enforcement of maritime rules and regulations. This leads to large

INTRODUCTION
The transport along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, on rivers and lakes,
gives the possibility and ability to navigate and transport goods andpeople in Congo DRC. Maritime transportation in Congo DRC isextremely important, because around 2/3 of the country’s transport is3182