KOCHI: The Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation, which resumed its ferry roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) service between Fort Kochi and Bolgatty on Tuesday, halted service after three trips following protests by the public, who demanded the service be extended till Vypeen.
The container Ro-Ro of KSINC, Adi Shankara, was deployed for regular service in the absence of passenger vehicle Ro-Ro Sethusagar-1, which has been out of service for the last two months. However, the service was limited till Bolgatty, failing to fulfill public demand for service till Vypeen. The service was halted as the public chose to skip the Ro-Ro journey.
“Adi Shankara which is three times bigger than the existing Ro-Ro vessels and has a capacity of 391 tonnes, had to stop operation as the public refused to utilise the service because it operated till Bolgatty,” said a KSINC official.
Sethusagar-1 has been out of service after developing a technical snag. “The strong demand from the public forced KSINC and Kochi Corporation to make an alternative arrangement. However, the demand is for the Fort Kochi-Vypeen route and not till Bolgatty,” said Johny Vypeen, convener of Vypeen Janakeeya Kootayma. “This has been notified to the authorities and we requested them to extend the service of Adi Shankara till Vypeen. They failed to do so and as a protest, the public refused to board the vessel and instead depended on Sethusagar 2,” he added.
Though Adi Shankara resumed its service on Tuesday, it did not witness the expected footfall. “Since Sethusagar-2 was also operating service, but between Fort Kochi-Vypeen route, most preferred its service, resulting in a huge rush,” said Antony Kureethara, opposition leader of Kochi Corporation. Meanwhile, Mayor M Anilkumar said Adi Shankara was just an alternative solution until Sethusagar-1 resumes its service after the repair works, and the public must cooperate with them.
According to KSINC officials, Sethusagar-1 will be sent for dry-docking at Cochin Shipyard Ltd by the end of this month. “The spare parts are expected to arrive at the shipyard by the time, and hopefully, the vessel will resume operations within 30 to 40 days of repair work,” said a KSINC official.
Considering the size of the vessel, it is difficult for it to embark near Vypeen. “A few years back, KSINC conducted a joint inspection with the Cochin Port Trust and civic bodies with regard to removing the sea rock and expanding the Vypeen Ro-Ro jetty. However, the report stated that it’s not practical to remove the rock from the area as it will cause damage to the infrastructure near it,” said a KSINC official.