Operators of sail vessels want the government to give a fillip to transportation of cargo using their vessels between Tuticorin and Colombo so as to arrest the decline of this once prosperous mode of cargo shipment.
Though these vessels have sails to harness the wind, they are powered by engines and equipped with modern navigation gadgets, according to S. Lasington Fernando, secretary, Coastal Mechanised Sail Vessel Owners’ Association, Tuticorin.
He told The Hindu on Wednesday that the government must take efforts to ensure the survival and growth of this traditional mode of transport.
There were 40 sailing vessels based here, each making four voyages a month from the old harbour to Colombo in Sri Lanka.
After the export-import traders started preferring containers, the sail vessels lost their utility, he said.
Besides, in 1995, due to ethnic strife in the island nation, sail vessels were banned from sailing to Sri Lanka. When the ban was lifted in 2011, sail vessel operators were jubilant.
Still the cargo business once lost to container ships could never be regained, though it was cheaper to ship goods in sail vessels.
Now there were only 30 sail vessels operating from Tuticorin, Mr. Fernando said. The government must reserve some commodities to be shipped only using sail vessels to save this industry from extinction.
Before the new harbour in Tuticorin was commissioned, the sail vessels were the preferred choice for shipping huge consignments of dry fish, dry chillies, onions, potatoes, construction materials and other cargo to Colombo. On the return journey, coconut, pepper, tea and other products were brought from Sri Lanka.
Now the Tuticorin old harbour had also lost its significance.
The sail vessels were the driving force behind Sri Lanka’s economy once. Sail vessels gave jobs to 5,000 workers and double the number benefited indirectly once.
Apart from Tuticorin, sail vessels were being operated from Cuddalore and some ports in Gujarat, he said.
