MV Chauncy Maples is a motor ship and former steamship that was launched in 1901 as SS Chauncy Maples. She spent her entire career on Lake Malawi (formerly more widely known as Lake Nyasa) and was regarded as the oldest ship afloat in Africa. After more than one hundred years' service it was intended to restore her for use as a floating medical clinic to support the several million lakeshore dwellers whose average life expectancy is 44 years. The Government of Malawi offered support for this in 2009 and charity fundraising was sufficient to make progress. The hull was found to be beyond repair at a viable cost so a more practical modern craft was proposed to give ambulance service around the lake. Shipbuilders Alley & McLellan, Polmadie The Alley & McLellan shipyard in Polmadie, Glasgow, was a considerable distance from the River Clyde, with the final approach into Glasgow Central Station posing just one of many barriers between it and the Clyde. The company specialised in supporting the far reaches of the British Empire by building vessels that were dismantled into kit form once they had been completed. The resulting set of parts was frequently enormous and a daunting logistical task to transport. Re-assembly also depended heavily upon the availability of skilled labour at the customer's premises. As in the case of the Chauncy Maples, this was frequently the only viable option when the ultimate destination was very far inland, away from any semblance of modern communications. Purpose and delivery The SS Chauncy Maples was designed to steam the extensive waters of Lake Nyasa, the most southerly lake in East Africa. At long and wide it is the eighth-largest lake in the world. It is also the second-deepest lake in Africa and home to more fish species than any other lake on Earth, giving an easy source of food for those who live around its shores. Conceived and commissioned by the Universities' Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), the 150-ton ship was one of the last designs produced by Henry Marc Brunel, son of the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Once dismantled, the complex kit of almost 3,481 parts was transported by cargo ship to Portuguese East Africa, then towed by barge up the dangerous waters of the Zambezi. The boiler was built by Abbott of Newark. It weighed 11 tons and was transported in one piece on a special