City-based Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) is gearing up to commission Suryamshu, a unique double-decked tourist boat that will have a lift on board to enable differently abled and aged people to reach the upper deck, in May.
It will be the first time in the Kochi backwaters that such a vessel is being introduced. Its another unique feature will be that it is a hybrid vessel, able to operate both on solar power and diesel, sources said.
The ₹-3.95-crore air-conditioned vessel that can carry 100 passengers was built at a yard in Sri Lanka. Having been brought to Kochi, it will undergo sea trials by the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and acceptance trials by the KSINC. The vessel will bank on solar power for its regular operations, while its diesel generator will power its air-conditioner and also act as a backup source of energy. It will have a cafeteria on board, they added.
Yet another vessel from the agency’s stable that is set for commissioning is Amrutha, a 300-tonne oil barge. The certification and other processes for the ₹4-crore vessel are over. It is expected to come in handy for transportation of fuel in bulk, including for ships berthed at the bunkering terminal. The barge was built at the KSINC’s yard at Thopumpady.
The agency had on Thursday deployed Cleopatra, its partly air-conditioned tourist vessel for service from Kottapuram up to the sea mouth in a two-hour guided package tour christened Muziris Sea Cruise, in a tie-up with Muziris Heritage Limited. The boat can carry 100 people, including 20 in its air-conditioned cabin. Its sister vessel Michelle is set for dry-docking in Kochi. “Michelle too could be sent to operate in the Muziris region, depending on patronage for Cleopatra,” the sources said.
The demand for sunset and other popular cruises of sister vessels Sagara Rani 1 and Sagara Rani 2 had resumed as soon as the pandemic curbs were lifted. The tie-up with the KSRTC’s budget tourism cell has seen an increase in demand for the vessels, and also for the ₹16.42-crore cruise ship, Nefertiti, they added.
