MoU to resume ferry services

India and Sri Lanka will sign an MoU to resume ferry services between Colombo and Tuticorin as well as Talaimannar and Rameswaram shortly, said Deputy High Commissioner of India Vikram Misri. He said that the MoU is expected to be finalised shortly.

Resuming ferry service will restore the traditional connectivity between the two countries. He said that details such as frequency, fare, ownership will be known only after the MoU is concluded and modalities to implement the same are finalised. Deputy High Commissioner Misri said:

“We expect the resumption of ferry services to have a significant impact on tourism as well as business in both directions.” The ferry services are expected to connect Talaimannar in Northern Sri Lanka and Rameshwaram and Colombo and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

In July 2009, India and Sri Lanka had decided to resume the ferry service between Cochin and Colombo after a gap of 25 years.

That decision was taken at the SAARC Transport Ministers’ conference in India which was attended by an Indian delegation led by Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, RPN Singh. Till 1983, the Colombo-Chennai service was a great boon to hundreds of thousands of people, mainly Tamil. But New Delhi cancelled the ferry as scores of Sri Lankan Tamils sought refuge in Tamil Nadu.