The roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) service of the Kochi Corporation is yet to go full steam, six months after the launch of the facility. The Kochi Corporation and the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) have been unable to operate the two vessels simultaneously between Fort Kochi and Vypeen as planned.
The KSINC, which was selected for operating the service for the civic body, could not find masters for navigating the vessels even six months after launching the service. The two agencies could not even sign a contract for the operation of the vessels. The KSINC is operating the vessels based on a memorandum of understanding entered into with the corporation. The KSINC officials said the civic body had not returned the draft contractual agreement submitted to them a few months ago.
Regarding crew for operating the vessels, a KSINC official said there was shortage of qualified and trained personnel. It was the responsibility of the KSINC to identify the personnel for manning the vessels, said a civic official. Of the two vessels procured by the civic body, one has been docked for repair at the Cochin Port Trust, which built the twin vessels.
The inability of the civic administration to streamline the operation of the vessels had come under severe criticism a few times at the corporation council meeting and also at a recent review meeting conducted by Minister for Local Self-Governments A.C. Moideen.
With hardly two weeks left for the annual tourism season to begin, the civic administrators said a meeting of the officials concerned would be convened to discuss the issue. The next four months would see visitors going to Fort Kochi in large numbers and the civic body needed to put in place adequate travel facilities for the tourists, said a civic administrator.
