The first lake cruise ship to be deployed is currently being assembled from parts fabricated in South Africa and shipped to the Coza Bay Maritime Complex on Lake Kivu via Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. The first, and also the smallest of the Queen class ship, she is to be christened "M.Y. uBuranga", which in Kinyarwanda means beauty.

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The method of building ships in foreign lands and 'shipping' them by sea and then overland to the Great Lakes was started as far back as January 1859 when David Livingstone deployed the world's first steel boat, the Ma-Robert, on the Zambezi River. Most of the great steamers on the lakes had been made in Europe and assembled on the lake shores, but with the building of the Coza Bay shipyard in Rwanda, the manufacture and assembly of boats and ships will be done locally.

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Being the first dedicated luxury lake cruise ship on an African great lake, the uBuranga is the benchmark for all the Queens to follow. On the lower deck are eight cabins that are designed and finished to the exacting standards of Mantis, along with the industrial kitchen, staff quarters and the forward pool deck. The middle deck is an open space with the lounge, dining, grand bar and the captain's wheelhouse forward overlooking the pool deck below. The upper deck is dedicated to an even higher standard of accommodation with a private serviced parlor, decks, jacuzzi and two state suites. A 'pilots' cabin is located here too, which based on the nature of the occupancy of the upper deck, would also function as a spa treatment room with the adjoining parlor dedicated to a juice bar, lounge and yoga deck.