VASCO: Procedural issues continue to plague the long-awaited
Mumbai-Goa cruise ferry service, which has been further delayed due to lack of clearances from the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and the Directorate General of Shipping.
The Mumbai-Goa ferry service was scheduled to start by December last year, but Mormugao Port Trust (
MPT) officials say that the ferry service could be opened to tourists and travellers only by February-end.
"The delay is mainly because of certification," said MPT chairman I
Jeyakumar. "The vessel is being readied. IRS and DG shipping clearances are pending. These formalities have to be completed," he added.
Delay in commencing trial runs, delay in obtaining dry docking permissions in Mumbai and modification of the on-board safety apparatus are some of the reasons why the service has yet to commence.
The Mumbai-Goa passenger ferry can hold around 400 passengers and will be operational throughout the year, except during the monsoon. The fare is expected to be revealed in the run-up to the commercial launch of the cruise service.
Sources said that the cruise vessel has already reached India and is anchored at Mumbai port. It will operate from the domestic cruise terminal at Mazgaon.
"Ideally, inaugurating the service during Christmas or New Year would have been the opportune time, and the delay has affected the commercial service," said an official.
MPT is also considering the possibility of constructing a new berth with an integrated cruise terminal to cater to international and domestic cruise liners.
"Here we may require additional berths for cruise, but for that we don't have funds. We are thinking of getting funds through
Sagarmala though immediately it is not possible. Maybe in the next couple of years, we have to think of a berth with a modern cruise building in the middle so that from the ship, people can enter the cruise terminal directly. Now the building is separate and I am not happy with the way things are," Jeyakumar said.
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