THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Come December, Malayali expats in the UAE will be able to travel home on a luxury cruise, and that too at affordable fares, if all goes as per plan. A private cruise, linking the UAE to Kerala and having a passenger capacity of around 1,300, is set to be launched by December, once the Centre issues the nod.
As per the plan, the one-way fare for the three-day trip will be around Rs 10,000. Passengers will be allowed to carry baggage up to 200kg.
Kozhikode-based Malabar Development Council (MDC) and Indian Association Sharjah (IAS), the two organisations behind the idea, held talks with the Kerala Maritime Board, which in turn asked NORKA (department of Non-resident Keralites Affairs) to conduct a study to assess how beneficial the service would be to the 22-lakh-strong Malayali population in the UAE. Based on the feasibility study, a decision will be taken on operating the service and floating a company to manage it.
Ports Minister Ahammed Devarkovil told TNIE that the department will not directly be part of the service, but will extend all support to its operations.
“Discussions on starting a chartered ship service have been going on for some time. The maritime board has asked NORKA to conduct two studies. One will be on the duration of the voyage -- whether it would be viable and how much baggage can be allowed. The other will be a survey among expatriates on whether they prefer to undertake a voyage or not,” said Devarkovil.
Exorbitant flight charges, especially during festive seasons, have been a constant complaint raised by Malayali expats in the UAE. It’s against this backdrop that the two organisations held talks with the maritime board.
NORKA told to carry out feasibility study
Kerala Maritime Board chairman N S Pillai said he has advised IAS president Y A Rahim that it would be viable to initially hire a chartered ship to understand the expats’ interest. “As port operators, the board has promised all support to IAS. Parallely, the MDC held talks with the chief minister, who passed the request to K S Srinivas, Principal Secretary, Ports. He sent it to us. I took the matter up with NORKA chairman P Sreeramakrishnan and talks were held on September 15.
We urged NORKA to hold a feasibility study by a reputed international agency and also a survey,” Pillai told TNIE. The KMB will report the findings of the study to the state government. In all likelihood, a company based in Kerala will be floated.
Currently, a ship that can accommodate 1,300 passengers is in its last stages of construction at the Cochin Shipyard.
Pillai told TNIE that the Andaman and Nicobar Administration had engaged the Cochin Shipyard to construct a large vessel. They dropped the contract due to certain issues. This came as a boon to MDC and IAS, he said.
MDC president C E Chakunny told TNIE that their initial plan is to hire a chartered ship.“The Kerala government earmarked Rs 15 crore to resolve issues faced by expats travelling from the UAE. So, this fund can be used for the chartered ship service. As of now, we have planned Rs 10,000 as the one-way fare,” said Chakunny. Next week, Chakunny will hold talks with the stakeholders in the Union government. However, he is apprehensive of airlines trying to block the proposed ship service.