KOCHI: The Kochi Corporation has decided to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to facilitate the smooth functioning of the roll on-roll off service currently managed by the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) between Fort Kochi and Vypeen.Though the civic body received the state government’s nod to form the SPV on February 17, the move gathered steam after the mishap at Fort Kochi on February 21, when a Ro-Ro ferry collided with a tourist boat a few metres off the coast.
The corporation’s finance committee will submit a detailed proposal in the next council meeting. “We have to formulate the structure of the director board of SPV, the board members, appointment of new masters (Ro-Ro drivers) and other financial aspects. The corporation will recruit the employees to the new setup and combine the Ro-Ro and the now-defunct boat service,” said Mayor Soumini Jain.
“We have taken models of Cochin Smart Mission Limited and Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) in preparing the structure of the SPV. We will take advice from professionals like CIAL managing director V J Kurian before forming the SPV,” Soumini said. Under the new platform, regular maintenance of ferries will be carried out by the employees.
“The service will have both functional and accidental maintenance works. Along with fine-tuning the services, the SPV will focus on facilitating passengers instead of transporting vehicles,” said Soumini.
The corporation will sign an agreement with KSINC to continue the services. “Ever since we started the service, there was a plan to form an SPV for its operation. Due to the delay in getting approval from the state government, we decided to hand over the responsibility to KSINC. We have requested KSINC to continue services until the SPV is formed,” she said. KSINC officials said even if the corporation forms an SPV, the agency will be a part of it.