The ferry service between Thoothukudi and Colombo, which was delayed due to various reasons, is now back on track and will be launched by Union minister for shipping and environment G.K. Vasan at Thoothukudi on June 13.
The ship Scotia Prince will sail twice a week to the island nation and take 14 hours to reach Colombo from Thoothukudi.
The ferry service, planned for a March launch, was postponed due to non-availability of the ship as the Indian government had diverted the vessel to Libya to evacuate the expatriate workers stranded there due to political turmoil.
Flemingo Liners, which has chartered Scotia Prince, that sailed between Portland and Yarmouth in 2004, has received the licence to run the ferry for 10 years. Like a cruise ship, the nine-deck liner can carry 1,044 passengers in 317 cabins.
Onboard features include the ‘Broadway Lounge’, a restaurant, Concorde a café called Manhattan, a bar, disco and infirmary apart from a casino, a drive-in-drive-out facility for cars and cargo vehicles and a duty-free shop.
The passengers have options of economy, deluxe, business, first and special cabins for the physically challenged. The fares are between Rs 2,243 for single berth, economy class, to Rs 2,760 for super deluxe single berth from Thoothukudi to Colombo. The Colombo-Thoothukudi leg is priced between Rs 2,760 and Rs 3,393 per berth.
“The tourism potential between India and Sri Lanka is tremendous and as the demand for cruise travel in India is also increasing, we expect this ferry service to cater to the requirements of these two segments,” said Flemingo Liners CEO P.K. Thimmayya.
Nearly 1.27 lakh Indians visited Sri Lanka and 2.4 lakh Sri Lankans visited India in 2010.