Efforts are also on to launch another service between Rameswaram and Talaimannar.
High-Speed Craft Cheriyapani will cover the distance in around 3 hours. (X)
The much-anticipated high-speed passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka will resume on Tuesday, 10 October, after a gap of 41 years.
The ferry would cover the 60 nautical miles (111 km) between the mini port in Nagapattinam and the resort hub at Sri Lanka’s Jaffna in about three hours.
The Shipping Corporation of India’s High-Speed Craft (HSC) Cheriyapani, which would sail across the Palk Strait between the two countries, could seat 150 passengers.
Authorities have dredged the port channel at Nagapattinam and set up a passenger terminal complete with space for customs, immigration, external affairs, and shipping corporation. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel would provide security for the port.
India-flagged HSC Cheriyapani, built in 2006, could cruise at an average speed of 16.3 knots (around 30 kmph) an hour and could touch a maximum of 18.9 knots.
The watercraft with an overall length of 34.91 meters and a breadth of 9.61 meters, weighs around 396 tonnes. It would have a 14-member crew.
According to the Shipping Corporation of India, each passenger could carry up to 50 kg of baggage. KPV Shaik Mohamed Rowther & Co Private Limited, and Asha Agencies Ltd., (Pership Group Company) are the authorised ticketing agencies in India and Sri Lanka, respectively.
A one-way ticket would cost ₹7,670 per passenger aged nine and above (half the price for those under nine), and 10 people have so far booked tickets for the maiden voyage.
The vessel would depart Nagapattinam at 10 am, and start its return trip from Kankesanthurai at 3 pm.
Interiors of Cheriyapani HSC ⛴️, which is going to sail between Nagappattinam – Kankesanturai. pic.twitter.com/a1HsGQZy3l
— Kumbakonam Development Forum (@KRD_forum) October 7, 2023
The ferry service between the two countries was suspended in 1982 due to the civil war in the island country. A major part of the sea route was then controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam till the end of the civil war.
After the end of the war, the then UPA-II government in India launched a ferry service between Thoothukudi and Colombo. However, it lasted only five months.
During the visit of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in July, both countries agreed to resume the ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai.
Further, efforts were on to launch another service between Rameswaram and Talaimannar. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the two countries.
Following the initiative, a brand new passenger terminal was recently constructed by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) at a cost of Sri Lankan Rs 450 million, ahead of opening a new era of maritime travel and tourism for the northern region of the island nation in the Indian Ocean.
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