Ro-pax ferry service between Ghogha-Dahej to resume in gulf of Cambay from December 14

Ahmedabad: The Ro-Pax ferry service between Bhavnagar and Ghogha, which was put on halt since November 21 due to techincal problems in the ship used for it, will resume from December 14.

Talking to UNI the Gujarat Maritime Board VC and CEO Mukesh Kumar confirmed it today.
He said that the vessel has got clearance for ferry after repair and 3 successful sea trials.

He said that the third and final sea trial was conducted today in presence of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) Surveyor.

Meanwhile the highly placed sources associated with the ferry operations today said that there will be two daily round trips of the Ro-pax ferry from December 14.
‘It will resume the sail from Ghogha at 8 am on December 14. The second trip from Ghoga would be at 4 pm in the afternoon. From Dahej side the two trips would be at 1130 am and 7pm. The same timings would be for each day,’ they said.

The sources however said that despite the resumption of services they were still concerned about the maintenance of depth in the channels and proper dredging for continuation of smooth operations in the future.

Notably, the cooling system of the ship was shut on November 21 mid sea with 461 passengers on board. It was tugged back to Ghogha. The operators had alleged that muddy water due to less depth in the sea channel near terminals had caused the problem.

The original Ro Ro service with passengers only ship was inaugurated on October 22 last year by PM Narendra Modi and the Ro-Pax version capable of ferrying vehicles and cargos also was started on October 27 this year. The Ro-Ro service was also stopped from November 25 for routine maintenance.

DeshGujarat