The MV Mtendere, a passenger ferry that has not been in service on Lake Malawi for more than a decade, has sunk.
The vessel, which has been moored at Monkey Bay port in Mangochi, went down on Sunday night, Malawi Lake Services (MLS) staff said.
MLS officials said they did not yet know what caused the sinking.
The Mtendere entered service on the lake in 1980 and for many years carried passengers and cargo between Monkey Bay and other ports, including Chilumba in the north.
At its peak in the early 1980s, the ferry was carrying about 100,000 passengers a year.
But the ship has been out of service since around 2014 and was stored at Monkey Bay.
Earlier reports described it as mothballed, pending possible repairs or disposal.
The sinking comes as the government moves to overhaul water transport on Lake Malawi, where ageing vessels and poor infrastructure have raised safety concerns.
In late 2025, the government grounded the 74-year-old MV Ilala, describing it as a safety hazard, and took back control of lake transport operations from private operator Mota-Engil.
Former Transport Minister Feston Kaupa told Parliament the state could no longer gamble with lives on an ageing ship built in 1949.
Since then, government has been seeking financing and investors to acquire new vessels, including a planned US$40 million passenger ship to replace the Ilala.
In July this year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Xiao Xiang Investments for a package that includes construction of a new passenger ship, two oil tankers, a bulk cargo vessel and development of a new port at Kaporo.
