Aitken Spence/MBBLPathfinder and Norled AS to revive Indo-Lanka ferry service

A joint venture has been proposed to start a passenger/ cargo ferry connection between Colombo and Tuticorin.

In the second stage, the project seeks to re-establish the Talaimannar-Rameshwaram ferry link after a gap of three decades. Finally, a consortium would expand the Colombo-Tuticorin ferry service to Kochi, the major port city in the state of Kerala, depending on the demand, the prime movers of the consortium, MBBL-Pathfinder Group said in a media release.

The group is in discussion to set up the consortium involving Aitken Spence PLC and Norled AS, a leading ferry operator in Norway, to operate the ferry service.

Last week, the joint venture outlined its plans for proposed ferry operations to the meeting of SAARC Experts for launching cargo and passenger ferry services involving Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the release said.

The Indo-Lanka ferry service commenced over a century ago in 1914, connecting Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu with Talaimannar in the island of Mannar in northwest Sri Lanka. The two railway lines connecting Chennai (Madras) with Colombo enabled countless number of passengers to move between the two countries for over 70 years in pursuit of their vocations, undertake pilgrimages and family reunions until the railway link was disrupted in the mid 1980s due to the conflict in Sri Lanka. The ferry service was then suspended.

"The joint venture partners are of the view that a comfortable ferry service at regular intervals, low cost tickets and attractive free baggage allowances would entice a good a percentage of air travellers to modern ferries that would offer on board duty free shopping, entertainment and other facilities," the release said.