Ro-Ro vessel making to begin on August 1

KOCHI: The construction of the city’s first Ro-Ro passenger vessel will begin on August 1 at Cochin Shipyard with the steel cutting ceremony.

CSL is expected to handover the first vessel in six months to the City Corporation. Procurement of raw materials has already been completed.

As per the agreement signed with the civic body in March, CSL will supply the two modern vessels costing Rs 7 crore in 15 months.

The civic authorities are planning to launch the service on the busiest Fort Kochi –Vypeen route where thousands of passengers depend on traditional ferry services.

The Ro-Ro service will be a game changer in the water transport sector and will be the ‘water metro service’ of Kochi.

Compared to the traditional junkar boats, these modern vessels can accommodate double the number of vehicles thus by reducing congestion and waiting time at jetties.

The double-end role-on role-off vessels will help faster movement of vehicles since both ends will serve as exit and entry.

The civic body has got financial assistance from the Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation (KURDFC) to purchase the vessels.

At present, Ro-Ro vessels have been used to carry container trucks between Willingdon Island and International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), Vallarpadam which helped to decongest the roads to a great extent.