A total of 160 passengers from Lakshadweep arrived at Old Mangaluru Port in a passenger vessel on Thursday as the passenger ship service between the two destinations resumed post COVID-19.
They came in the high speed MSV Parali vessel. It left Kadamat Kiltan of Lakshadweep at 6 a.m. and reached the Old Mangaluru Port at 4.30 p.m. The crew of the vessel comprised of a pilot, a Chief Engineer, an Assistant Engineer and eight other personnel. Each passenger was charged ₹ 650.
Aboobacker Ashraf, a Congress activist from Bengre, said the passenger vessel service between the two places had stopped during COVID. As the service did not resume following end of COVID restrictions, Mr. Ashraf said he along with other Congress activists approached former Lakshadweep Member of Parliament Muhammed Humdullah Sayeed. Mr. Sayeed spoke to Dakshina Kannada district In-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and first passenger vessel from Lakshadweep after COVID restrictions resumed on Thursday.
“We want this passenger vessel service to be a regular one as it fosters tourism in the region,” Mr. Ashraf said.
Among the passengers who came in the vessel included Naseeb Khan, who came for medical treatment in Mangaluru. “Earlier we had to travel in big vessel for two days to reach Mangaluru. With a high speed vessel the travel time has been greatly reduced. We can make good use of health care services in the city,” Mr. Khan said.
Another passenger Mohammed Ashradi said in the absence of passenger service, they were forced to travel in the vessel to Kozhikode and Kochi and reach Mangaluru by road. Mr. Ashradi said he will be staying for few days in his relative’s house in Mangaluru before proceeding to Kerala and then return to Lakshadweep after a few days.
