Indo-Lanka ferry service to resume on Friday
August 13, Colombo (LNW): Nearly a year after its suspension, a passenger ferry service between India and Sri Lanka is all set to resume on Friday (August 16) with ticket booking opening from Monday midnight.
Nearly a year after its suspension, a passenger ferry service between India and Sri Lanka is all set to resume on Friday (August 16) with ticket booking opening from Monday midnight.
The service, operated by IndSri Ferry Services private Limited, from Nagapattinam connects the Kankesanthurai port in northern Sri Lanka. Ahead of the scheduled resumption, the vessel ‘Sivagangai’ has completed two trial runs – on Saturday and Sunday – successfully.
With a capacity for 150 passengers, the vessel takes just four hours to complete a trip from Nagapattinam to Kankesanthurai. “Sivagangai’ has a seating capacity of 150, including 25 business class seats. Compared to airfare, this is cheaper. Even to Jaffna, one way trip costs more than Rs 7000 and to Colombo it is even higher (more than Rs 10000).
Why Nagapattinam? “It is closer to Sri Lanka. Hence, it is chosen. Initially, we preferred to operate the service to Jaffna from Karaikal, an enclave of the Union Terriroty of Puducherry. But, the Union Government gave us permission to run the service from Nagapattinam,” S Niranjan Nanthagopan, Managing Director of IndSri Ferry Service told The Statesman from Nagapattinam.
Nagapattinam, in the tail end of the Cauvery delta region, is very close to the Catholic pilgrim centre Vailankanni and is easily accessible to ancient temples like the Thanjavur Big temple among others. The famed Kodiakkarai bird sanctuary which abuts Nagapattinam is also an added attraction. Hence, the Indo-Lanka ferry service is expected boost tourism besides enhancing connectivity by sea.
The ferry service was originally launched on October 14 last year, with the vessel “Cheriyapani” but was suspended within a few days reportedly due to the north-east monsoon. Subsequent efforts to resume it had faced delays.
This new ferry service is not entirely new, but rather a resuscitation of the colonial-era transport service between the two countries. In the early 1900s, the Indo-Ceylon Express or Boat Mail was a train and ferry service that ran between Chennai and Colombo, through the Tuticorin port.
However, due to various reasons, the service was discontinued, with the final blow being delivered during the 1980s, when the civil war between the majority Sinhala population and the minority Tamils in Sri Lanka broke out and lasted for more than 20 years.
Since the civil war ended in 2009, there have been several attempts to restart this cross-national transportation service, but none have been successful.
However, with the economic and political changes that Sri Lanka has undergone in recent years, it is now turning to India to revive cultural ties and foster greater economic cooperation. Therefore, the revival of the age-old ferry service connecting South India to Jaffna in Sri Lanka signals the beginning of a new, more positive and fruitful chapter in India-Sri Lanka bilateral relations.
