Unchecked passage of box lorries and subsequent worsening of traffic snarls at heavily barricaded junctions on the NH Bypass have given impetus to the demand to reintroduce India’s first roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) vessel, which ferried 20 field-weighted down lorries at a time between Willingdon Island and Bolgatty until 2017.
The vessel that might transport as many as 800 lorries each day alleviated the harried commuters along the 1-km-lengthy Kundannoor bridge, 16-km-long Edappally-Aroor NH Bypass, and slim metropolis roads. However, it transported a mean of 250 lorries day by day. The walking time via the avenue turned over 3 hours, about 40 kilometers, through Kundannoor, Maradu, Seaport-Airport Road, Kalamassery, and Container Terminal Roa.
However, patronage suffered later due to a segment of lorry drivers and owners’ reluctance to avail themselves of the carrier. Another motive was that the ro-ro vessel seldom carried the complement of 20 lorries because of worries over the shallow National Waterway III channel among the two islands.
Much to the surprise of commuters and port stakeholders, the carrier withdrew in 2017 via the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) following variations of opinion with Lots Shipping, the vessel’s operator, over the quantum of security deposit. The operator expressed incapability to pay the ₹15-lakh deposit, mentioning insufficient patronage for the boat and the frequent damage it sustained because of the alleged reluctance of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to dredge the channel to make the certain depth of two 5 meters.
Shallow waters
“The depth in several areas becomes as low as 1.4 meters. This resulted in the fully loaded vessel getting damaged in many activities. The number of lorries in step with the ride needed to be lessened, even during high tide, to save you from such incidents. The state of affairs changed, so many journeys were canceled during the low tide. On its element, the IWAI refused to dredge the channel even though it maintained it and owned the berthing terminal on Bolgatty Island. All this hampered the choicest utilization of the vessel, which can navigate via the waterway both nights,” said stakeholders who wer to its operation.
A senior IWAI reliable stated that the NW III has an average intensity of two meters, which is utilized by even 500-tonne barges.
“The ro-ro provider among the two isles may be resumed as soon as our seals, which are being built at Cochin Shipyard, are co-commissioned in February 2020,” he stated. The port insisting on a ₹15-lakh safety deposit came as a bolt from the blue when you consider that it’d further dent the vessel’s financial viability. The service couldn’t be salvaged even though its operators ran from pillar to submit; they delivered.
Turnaround time
It is noteworthy that the vessel could transport up to forty lorries at some point in a return trip that took less than an hour. It could cover the gap between the two islands in 18 minutes, something that lorries using the NH Bypass and Container Road took over 90 minutes.
Arbitration underway
With the stalemate over ro-ro vessel operation occurring for the past years, calls are rife that government companies like KSINC operate the vessel, which is now idling at Bolgatty Island. Official resources stated they might want to take it on rent or rent and manage it to lessen traffic snarls on the skip and different congested corridors.
Cochin Port Trust chairperson M. Beena said the port could no longer restore the vessel’s operation because an arbitration system had become established between the operator and the port following the carrier’s withdrawal.
Considering the mounting traffic keep-use due to box lorries, the port has sought to introduce a comparable ro-ro provider among the islands as quickly as feasible.
The count has taken up multiple instances with KSINC, and recently with the Transport Department, it’s miles learned.
KSINC, dealing with director Prasanth Nair, stated KSINC might want to function as a ro-ro carrier in the hall, supplying its miles technically and commercially feasible.
