The MV Ilala, formally Ilala II, is a motor ship that has plied Lake Malawi in East Africa since 1951. She is operated by Malawi Lake Services and based in Monkey Bay, Malawi(on the southern end of the lake). Every week, The Ilala crosses the lake all the way north to Chilumba, Malawi, near Tanzania (about 480 km from Monkey Bay) and then returns to Monkey Bay. She carries both passengers and freight, and calls at major towns on both the Malawian and Mozambican Coast, as well as at the two inhabited islands of the lake (Likoma and Chizumulu).