KOCHI: Construction of the third Ro-Ro ferry to be used in the Fort Kochi-Vypeen corridor will begin soon. The corporation signed the contract with Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) on Wednesday. The third Ro-Ro will reduce interruption of service. At present, some services are cancelled when one of the ships undergoes repair or maintenance.
The Rs 14.9 crore construction will be funded with assistance from the Cochin Smart Mission Ltd (CSML).
Although construction was scheduled to be completed in 18 months, CSL acceded to mayor M Anilkumar’s request to complete the work in 12 months.
Many in the tourism sector had taken issue with the noise levels of the existing Ro-Ros and civic authorities took up the matter with CSL officials. CSL chairman Madhu S Nair instructed the design department to take necessary steps to rectify the matter.
Additional secretary P S Shibu signed the MoU on behalf of the corporation, while Sreejith K Narayanan, director of operations, signed it on behalf of CSL. CSL’s director of technical department Bijoy Bhaskar, and corporation executive engineer Ambily T A were among those who participated in the ceremony.