MV MV Ilala

Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1949, MV Ilala (officially named Ilala II) was shipped in sections from Scotland and reassembled in Malawi (then Nyasaland). She entered service in 1951 and has continuously plied Lake Malawi ever since. As the second vessel to bear the name (the first was an 1875 steamer named after the Ilala region of Zambia where explorer David Livingstone was first buried), Ilala was officially named "Ilala II" but is universally known simply as MV Ilala. The 52-meter long ferry, with a beam of about 9.3 m and gross tonnage of 620 tons, can carry roughly 360 passengers along with 100 tons of cargo. It operates a weekly route from Monkey Bay in southern Malawi to Chilumba in the far north (near Tanzania), stopping at Malawian and Mozambican lakeshore towns as well as Likoma and Chizumulu Islands. Ilala has for decades been the primary long-distance transport for communities around the lake.

Over more than 70 years of service, the Ilala has survived groundings and mechanical issues, undergoing periodic maintenance to extend her life. She was re-engined in the 1990s and various hull repairs have been made over time. When the Ilala is taken out of operation for overhauls, other vessels such as the MV Mtendere (and more recently the MV Chilembwe, introduced in 2014) have been used as relief ferries. The Ilala is known for running behind schedule (sometimes by a full day or more) and for its crowded decks carrying everything from passengers to livestock, yet it remains a beloved icon of Lake Malawi. As of 2025, MV Ilala is still operational, though plans are underway to replace this aging ship with a modern vessel in the near future.