Is the Kenyan ferry built for disaster?

A comparison of ferries from around the world and the Likoni ferry. A woman's vehicle reversed and plunged into the Indian Ocean.

It has been close to 48 hours, and the bodies of 35-year-old Mariam Kigenda and her daughter are yet to be retrieved.

The question many Kenyans are now asking is whether the Likoni Ferry is built for disaster.

Photos shared on social media on Tuesday painted a sad reality of what the ferry users have to deal with.

The Likoni Ferry is a boat service across the Kilindini Harbour, serving Mombasa between the island side and the Likoni mainland, a distance of about 500m.

Perhaps it is the relatively short distance that has made authorities turn a blind eye to the disaster waiting to happen.

The Kenya Ferry Services on Tuesday revealed that the two areas identified as the position of the wreckage of the Likoni Ferry tragedy are around 60m deep.

Media reports indicated Kigenda's vehicle reversed and plunged into the Indian Ocean.

Onlookers say they saw her, but could do nothing.

She dropped to her death while in the car with her daughter identified as four-year-old Amanda Mutheu.

Ferry accidents remind Kenyans of the worst ferry disaster in 1994, when more than 270 people died at the Mtongwe Channel.

In August, the Kenya Ferry Services announced plans to suspend services at the Mtongwe Channel, putting more pressure on the Likoni Channel.

The more than 10,000 Mtongwe ferry users were then forced to add on to the 300,000 that use the Likoni Channel daily.

For vessels that ferry that many people one would expect the government to improve efficiency.