Resuming the Thoothukudi-Colombo ferry service, suspended in November last year, is now entirely in the hands of the Indian government, Sri Lanka says.
“If India resumes the ferry, we will cooperate as the General Sales Agents of the venture on the Sri Lankan side,” said Chitra Jayasinghe, officer in-charge of the ferry at the Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC), the state-owned shipping company responsible for handling the affairs of the ferry at the Sri Lankan end.
“We heard that the Indian authorities had floated a fresh tender for service providers,” Jayasinghe told Express here on Monday.
Asked about the CSC’s own plan to start a service to Thoothukudi, the official said the idea was given up.
The CSC is a loss-making small enterprise with just two vessels, one of which has been impounded in South Africa for non-payment of dues.
The Colombo-Thoothukudi ferry was suspended indefinitely on November 18, 2011, because the vessel MV Scotia Prince, was too big to make the venture economically viable.
Indian Minister of Shipping, G K Vasan, later announced that the government would choose a smaller ship, which could carry 500 passengers. But nothing further was heard about this project.
In January this year, P K Thimmayya, Colombo-based CEO of Flemingo Liners, who were operating MV Scotia Prince, said the company had shortlisted three smaller vessels with a passenger capacity of 500, and that the service would be re-started in 45 days. But this plan did not materialise.
