If the words of the Lakshadweep administration authorities are to be believed, the islanders will get two ships instead of the decommissioned passenger vessel MV Tipu Sultan.
The Lakshadweep administration is all set to add two vessels to its fleet by next year.
The new vessels, being built at the Colombo dock yard, are expected to be delivered in the first half of next year.
According to highly placed officials in the Lakshadweep administration, these vessels, both 400 seater, will be used for conducting services between the island and mainland Kerala.
“We expect the vessels to be delivered early next year,” said sources.
MV Tipu Sultan, which has become a symbol of connectivity between Lakshadweep and mainland, has not been sailing for the past two years with the Mercantile Marine Department denying a sea worthy certificate for the vessel to continue sailing.
Though the Lakshadweep administration had invited tenders three times for dismantling the vessels, nobody has evinced interest, reportedly due to high price.
MV Tipu Sultan is now docked at the Cochin Port.
The Lakshadweep authorities are considering reducing the basic price of the vessel which was fixed at Rs 4.6 crore by the government evaluator