Around 1150 Port Blair-bound passengers heaved a sigh of relief as M.V. Swaraj Dweep stranded in the city due to Cyclone Roanu sailed from Visakhapatnam for Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 11:10 hours on Saturday.
“The pilot took his seat early in the morning and after due preparations, the ship disembarked the Visakhapatnam Harbour,” A.V. Monish Row, Managing Parnter of Garuda Pattabhi Ramayya & Sons, the agents for the vessel, told The Hindu .
The ship owned by Shipping Corporation of India and on lease to Andaman and Nicobar Islands Administration to run passenger service was originally scheduled to leave the city on Wednesday. Due to inclement weather, the sailing was put off.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands operates five passenger vessels from Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Kolkata to Port Blair on regular basis.
It takes around 56 to 60 hours to reach Port Blair from here. The ship mostly carries tourists and labourers from Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari of Andhra Pradesh and various areas of South Odisha.
On the intervention of Andaman and Nicobar Administration, arrangements were made to provide food to the passengers during their detention in the city.
A senior official of Visakhapatnam Port Trust said for ‘safe navigation’ the ship management was advised not to sail till the cyclone crossed the coast.
