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The long-anticipated passenger ferry service connecting India and Sri Lanka is set to kick off on Tuesday, October 10, marking a momentous event that has been in the making for over a decade. The initiative comes to fruition as a result of a memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries.
In a collaborative effort, the Shipping Corporation of India in Mumbai, along with support from the High Commission of India and the Ministry of Port, Shipping, and Aviation, is ushering in this new passenger service bridging South India and the northern part of Sri Lanka. The ferry route will stretch from Nagapattinam, India, to the port of Kankesanthurai (KKS) in Jaffna, and vice versa.
The vessel chosen to ply this route is the High-Speed Craft (HSC) Cheriyapani, which will make its inaugural call at the KKS port on October 6, 2023. This new passenger service presents an economical travel option for people in India, strengthening the historical bonds between the two nations.
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Travelers will appreciate the swift journey as the transit time between the two ports is a mere 3 hours. In a bid to enhance affordability, the operators are generously offering a 50 kg baggage allowance.
Departures from Nagapattinam will take place daily at 10 am, with arrivals in Kankesanthurai at 3 pm. The 150-seater ferry, manned by a crew of 14, will cover a distance of 60 nautical miles (111 km) in one direction.
Notably, in the early 1900s, a combined train and ferry service known as the Boat Mail or Indo-Ceylon Express linked these two countries. The train route operated between Chennai and Dhanushkodi, while a boat service ferried passengers to Talaimannar in Sri Lanka, followed by another train journey to Colombo. Unfortunately, the boat service was discontinued in 1964 after a train was swept into the sea by massive waves.
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