SL-India ferry service to set sail in March
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Ferry services between India and Sri Lanka will take a step closer to reinstatement this week when a multi-agency officials’ group from Colombo visits Tuticorin inspect preparations at the Indian end.
Services should begin by the beginning of March, but last-minute logistical issues must be ironed out before the launch reports the Hindustan Times.
The service will cost 30% less than the present airfare and will be of immense commercial value as around 10,000 Indians on average visit Sri Lanka every month.
“The service will begin tentatively from 1 March and we expect it to be very popular, as there is a heavy flow of traffic for tourism, business, pilgrimage and education between both the countries,” Secretary for Ministry of Shipping, K Mohandas told the newspaper.
The ships meant for ferrying shall have a container, Ro-Ro (rolled on-rolled off) facility for easy loading and offloading, and will carry about 800 passengers, initially on alternate days from one side.
The duration of the journey will be around 10 hours. The link will be the first of the two ferry links to be established between the two countries.
The second one, between Talaimannar in north Sri Lanka and Rameshwaram, is likely to be inaugurated in the middle of this year.
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