Cochin Shipyard to begin sea trials of Water Metro boats

KOCHI: The first ferry, which will be floated as part of the Rs 747-crore Water Metro project will begin its sea trial soon. The vessel is at present undergoing basin trials in Cochin Shipyard. After the final trials, testing and certification, the first boat will be handed over to Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) for service trials.

A KMRL officer in a release here on Thursday said that top officials from the agency had visited Cochin Shipyard last week to evaluate the progress of the construction of boats. “A detailed review on the functioning of electric hybrid propulsion, navigation and communication systems installed onboard the vessel was carried out. Vyttila and Kakkanad Terminals are all set for the launch soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, the floating pontoons (which can be used as floating stages, floating walkways, floating bridges and floating jetty) have arrived at the terminals for installation. The Kochi Water Metro will have concrete floating pontoons across all boat jetties. 

“It enables convenient passenger boarding and de-boarding onto the boats. Aluminium gangways connect the water metro terminals to the pontoons for an easy transition. Pontoon systems are widely used in Western countries, but this will be a first of its kind in India, being implemented in a public water transport system. Pontoons for KWMP are being designed and manufactured by Marinetek, Finland,” added the officer.