Lake Victoria ferries are motor ships (earlier examples were steamboats) for ferry services carrying freight and/or vehicles and/or passengers between Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya on Lake Victoria. Operating ferries on Lake Victoria are mostly Ro-Pax ferries for the simultaneous transport of passengers, vehicles and goods. Some other ferries are dedicated train ferries, Ro-Ro ferries and cargo ships, as well as catamarans for passenger transport. For most of the 20th century, Lake Victoria ferries were international ferries operating clockwise or counterclockwise around Lake Victoria. In the 21st century, ferries are mostly operating domestically within the borders of Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania and between mainland ports and Lake Victoria islands. Ports and port infrastructure The main ports on the lake are in Kisumu in Kenya; Mwanza, Musoma, Bukoba in Tanzania; Entebbe, Port Bell and Jinja in Uganda. Many smaller Lake Victoria ports are also in use, the number of ports served by ferries in Tanzania alone reaches 30. The four ports of Kisumu, Port Bell, Musoma and Mwanza allow dedicated train ferries to dock at railway ferry wharves with jetties for direct rail track access to the ferries. The track gauge for the transported railway wagons is . In 2018, two of the railway wharves, at Port Bell and Mwanza, were in use. The train ferries connect the Uganda Railway at Port Bell with the Tanzanian Central Line at Mwanza. The Central Line is linked to the Tanzanian Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam to transport freight to and from world markets. The rail jetties at Kisumu and Musoma connect to railyards in the port areas, but these are rarely used as there are no operational railways in their hinterlands. Typical journey times were 13 hours between Port Bell and Kisumu, and 19 hours between Port Bell and Mwanza. The most important Lake Victoria port is Mwanza not only because of the port infrastructure, rail and road access to the Indian Ocean but also because of major facilities for ferry operation, service and construction. Dedicated dry docks for ferry repairs exist in or near Mwanza, Kisumu and Port Bell, but only those in Mwanza are consistently used. Much industry in the region has moved to Mwanza. Ferries The first ferry on Lake Victoria started operation in 1900 during the British colonial era, from the port of Kisumu. The original steamboats were later replaced by motor ships, some of which still operate