Even as festival days begin, the second Ro-Ro vessel, Sethusagar-2, which operates on Fort Kochi-Vypeen route, has again developed technical glitches and is now out of service. The service was disrupted from Tuesday after the vessel’s engine developed a snag.
Even though officials said efforts are being made to repair and get it back into service, uncertainty continues as it has been regularly developing snags for a couple of months now. In Aug, the vessel got steering wheel problems and it was not in operation until mid-Sept. Just after it restarted service, there were further ‘starting troubles’. It had just been back in service for only a week when the new trouble surfaced.
Vypeen-based Janakeeyakootayama demanded that a new vessel be brought into service immediately. The responsibility of operating the two Ro-Ro vessels in the route has been entrusted to Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation.
Kochi corporation has recently awarded construction of a new Ro-Ro vessel to Cochin Shipyard Ltd at Rs 18 crore.