Surat: The passengers of Ghogha-Hazira Ro-pax Ferry Service with vehicles had poor experience as they had to wait for 5 hours to exit from the ship after reaching at Hazira due to low tide. The incident took place on the second day after the service resumed.The Ghogha-Hazira Ro-pax ferry service has resumed its services from 19th October after remaining closed for 3 months during monsoon.

The ship had departed from Ghogha at 3 pm and it reached Hazira in Surat between around 7 to 7.30 pm. The passengers without vehicles were allowed to exit from the ship. However, the passengers with vehicles onboard such as car, truck, tempo and bike had to remain in the ship for 5 hours.

The ship wasn’t unloaded fully till 11 pm because of low level of water due to low tide. The passengers were finally allowed to exit at 11 pm after they brawled. The spokesperson of ferry service DG Connect said that the delay was because of not getting the permission to unload the passengers on port due to technical issues.

Meanwhile the spokesperson of Adani port said, the draft varies as per season in the jetty area of Adani port. The delay happened because of making adjustments considering low tide in sea and waiting for the high tide when the ship reached. The ship had timely arrived at the jetty and the passengers without vehicles were allowed to exit on time. The passengers with car, truck and tempo were stopped for safety reasons. The managers of the ship had parked the trucks in the front in the exit area. Other vehicles including cars were parked behind them. The mismanagement was by the ferry-service and there is no involvement of the port in it. The service works as per low-tides and high-tides. It is the duty of the port to keep watch on the safety of passengers. The proper decision was taken considering the low water due to low-tide. DeshGujarat