KOCHI: The Fort Kochi-Vypeen residents need no longer worry about safety while using the ferry service. No longer will they have to fear a repeat of the Fort Kochi tragedy every time they set foot on a boat. The reason: a brand new 150-seater vessel called Fort Queen will soon join the ferry service.
The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation Ltd (KSINC), have constructed the vessel, at a cost of Rs 1.62 crore. It took eight months to complete. The vessel will be handed over to Kochi Corporation in a week’s time, following the completion of the stability test.
KSINC managing director Tom Jose said, “The ferry has been constructed with all safety measures in place and has been subjected to all the neccessary tests. It has been built using steel, so the passengers need not worry about its durability.”
He participated in the trial-run, from the KSINC jetty to Fort Kochi-Vypeen Jetty, organised for the media on Friday. The single deck, single hull ferry has two engines. This will enable the operators to manoeuvre it safely, to the nearest jetty, even if one of the engines fail. Earlier, there had been many cases where the ferries and jhankars drifted out to sea following an engine failure.
“We have built the vessel in compliance with the Kerala Inland Vessel Rules. In order to ensure additional safety we have built five compartments inside the boat so that even if water seeps into any one of them, the vessel will not sink,” said Dr S K Pyarilal, associate professor, Department of Ship Technology, CUSAT, who designed the boat.
According to Mayor Soumini Jain, the new ferry will start operations within a month, since a decision on who will conduct the service is yet to be arrived at. “Councillors have said that the vessel should be inducted as a special purpose vehicle,” said Mayor.