FCO Advice on River Travel

The ferry service between Kinshasa and Brazzaville is currently operating. You should be aware that the boats and ferries, which serve the rivers and lakes, are poorly maintained and often overloaded. Strong currents, shifting sandbanks and poor maintenance contribute to low safety standards. At least 17 people were killed when a passenger ferry sank on Lake Tanganyika in January 2008. Large numbers of deaths were reported after a boat bound for Moba, a port on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, sank on 20 May. A makeshift boat ferrying passengers on the River Lubilanji near Mbuji-Mayi in southern DRC sank in early April 2008. Over thirty people were reported killed as a result. On 22 July 2008, at least 42 people were killed when a river boat sank on the River Oubangui in north western DRC, close to the border with the Central African Republic. Over one hundred people are missing following this incide