Commercial operations of Ro-Ro to start on Saturday

Bharuch/Surat: The Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) part of the Ro-Pax (ro-ro/passenger) ferry service between Dahej and Ghogha carried out its first trial run on Tuesday.
The vessel ‘Voyage Symphony’ docked at the Dahej Ro-Pax ferry jetty on Tuesday morning and took on 12 trucks, weighing in at about 120 metric tonnes, five cars and fifty-odd passengers before leaving at noon and reaching Ghogha at 1.30pm. The Ro-Ro service was supposed to be operational by October 12, but due to a cracked ponton at the Dahej jetty, the launch by chief minister Vijay Rupani was cancelled.

Varun Contractor, of the Ro-Pax ferry service provider Indigo Seaways, said, “The trial run was successful and from Saturday, October 27 onwards, a regular Ro-Ro ferry service will be operational between Dahej and Ghogha every day. The vessel Voyage Symphony can carry a maximum of 42-45 trucks, 40 passenger buses, 25 cars, 45 scooters and motorcycles and 525 passengers. Till October 25, the service will be complimentary for trucks and buses.”

The charges for an unladen truck will be Rs 4,500 with an additional Rs 125 per metric tonne up to 34 MT gross weight. For luxury passenger buses, the charge is Rs 7,000 for 36 passengers, For cars, it is Rs 800 plus passenger fare, medium trucks like Eicher tempos will pay Rs 3,000 empty and Rs 125 per MT of load. Scooters and motorcycles will be charged Rs 150 and passengers will pay Rs 200, Rs 300 and Rs 400 for economy, executive and VIP seating, respectively.

Drivers and cleaners of trucks and buses will get free snacks and tea while all other passengers have to pay for food and beverages. There will be two departures from both Dahej and Ghogha every day and a third departure is planned from November 3.

“The response from commercial users of the service is encouraging and we are optimistic that the maximum possible traffic will be diverted to the ocean route on a regular basis,” said Varun Contractor.